ETHANOL PRODUCTION FROM SUGAR LIBERATED FROM Pinus SP. AND Eucalyptus SP. BIOMASS PRETREATED BY IONIC LIQUIDS

Abstract Pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass using ionic liquids (ILs) has been widely studied and is considered one of the most promising methods to obtain fermentable sugars. However, few data exist on the fermentation of reducing sugars (RS) obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass pretreated with ionic liquids for the production of ethanol. Therefore, this study evaluated the production of ethanol from sugars liberated from sawdust of Pinus sp. and Eucalyptus sp. pretreated with ionic liquid [C4mim][OAc] and [C2mim][OAc], hydrolyzed with enzymes of Penicillium echinulatum employing Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe Y698 yeasts. The data indicate that when the biomass is pre-treated by [C2mim][OAc] there is higher production of ethanol that, when treated by [C4mim][OAc] for both evaluated yeasts, even though the pretreatment with [C2mim] [OAc] caused the highest losses of cellulose and hemicellulose. Under the conditions analyzed, it is possible to produce approximately 40 and 47 L of ethanol per ton of Pinus sp. and Eucalyptus sp, respectively. In addition to contributing to knowledge about the physiology of the yeasts in the sugars liberated from biomass pretreated in presence of ionic liquid, this data is also relevant to the development of processes for the production of lignocellulosic ethanol.