Vol. 6 No. 1 (2023): The Reality of Women in Science

• Odeh, P. I.
  Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Benue State University, Makurdi, Nigeria
  https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1901-3576




• Ogwuche, S.
  Department of Biological Sciences, Benue State University, Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria
  https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2581-5935




• Adoga, S. O.
  Department of Chemistry, Benue State University, Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria
  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4836-4183




• Onoja, J. F
  Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Benue State University, Makurdi, Nigeria
  




• Utume, L. N.
  Department of Biological Sciences, Benue State University, Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria.
  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9853-4806

Bioethanol is a biofuel produced from renewable biological sources that is currently used in many countries as a safer substitute for fossil fuels. This study investigated the potential of rice husk, cassava, potato and yam peels as biomass for bioethanol production using Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The feedstocks were pre-treated with 50 mL of 0.1 M HCl at 50 ºC for 20 min and hydrolysed at 100ºC with 100 mL of 2 M HCl. Thereafter, the pH of the samples was adjusted using equal conc. of NaOH and fermented using 10 g of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for 96 h. It was then distilled at 81 – 83 ºC. The result showed that the dissolved sugar concentration was significantly higher in potato peels than in yam peels (P = 0.004) and cassava peels (P = 0.045) but insignificant compared to rice husk (P = 0.158). However, the concentration of ethanol produced from rice husk (11.74±6.01% (v/v)) was slightly higher than potato peels (9.75±1.77% (v/v)); cassava peels (5.00±3.53% (v/v)) and yam peels (4.00±4.96% (v/v)), with no significant difference between them (P>0.05). Further investigation showed that, only 47.96% of the hydrolysate from rice husk, 39.06% from cassava peels, 33.27% from yam peels and 25.41% from potato peels were converted to ethanol and other by-products. The selected feedstocks showed good potential for bioethanol production especially the rice husk, and as such; commercial production is recommended for effective utilization and downstream applications.

Keywords: Bioethanol, Agro-based Feedstock, Hydrolysis, Fermentation, Dissolved sugar