Abstract
Biofuel production has attracted much attention in the last few decades. Much effort has been applied to decrease the production cost of bioethanol by using agricultural waste materials. Saccharification of lignocellulosic agricultural waste materials increases the amount of available sugars and thus reduces bioethanol production costs. Here, about 14 g/l of bioethanol (185 mg/g of dry material) was produced by Candida tropicalis Y-26 using production medium with water hyacinth hydrolysate as the sole carbon source. This hydrolysate was produced, after screening and mathematical modeling, by a combination of Aspergillus terreus F-98 and acid hydrolysis (H2SO4) treatments to give 409 mg/g total reducing sugars. The use of a combination of A. terreus F-98 and acid hydrolysis with H2SO4, 4.66% (v/v); water hyacinth biomass, 7.56% (w/v); reaction temperature, 119.27 degrees C; and reaction time, 16.11 min was optimal for the saccharification of water hyacinth.