2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Construction of tolerant yeast of fermentation inhibitors for ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass

Research Project

Project/Area Number	24760730
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Research Field	Energy engineering
Research Institution	Hiroshima University
Principal Investigator	KANNA Machi 広島大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), 助教 (10619365)
Project Period (FY)	2012-04-01 – 2014-03-31
Keywords	発酵阻害物質 / エタノール発酵 / バイオマス
Research Abstract	Lignocellulosic biomass passes through the process of three steps: pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis and ethanol fermentation. During the process of hydrothermal pretreatment that is one of the pretreatment, fermentation inhibitors are generated from lignocellulosic biomass. In this study, we analyzed quantification of various fermentation inhibitors derived from hydrothermal pretreatment. Furthermore, we investigated an effect of fermentation inhibitors on yeast growth and fermentation. As a result, furfural, 5-HMF and formic acid affected both yeast growth and ethanol fermentation under the same condition. However, in the case of acetic acid, inhibition of fermentation was not caused by high concentration though the rate of yeast growth decreased at the same condition. Moreover, we determined the effects of inhibition substance on yeast growth by fitting to Monod equation. Also, we quantified the effect of these inhibitors on the Monod parameters.