Quantification of Bioethanol Derived from Selected Renewable Coconut Raw Materials Using Simple Fermentation-Distillation Process

Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) is a major crop in the Philippines which entails a large volume of young coconut water (YCW), mature coconut water (MCW), young coconut husk juice (YCHJ), and coconut sap (CS) can be produced all year. The growing demand of bioethanol as a fuel blend to gasoline paves the way to the search for feedstock that can contribute to the bioethanol need of the country. YCW is normally processed as a refreshment product but due to the large volume of consumption, young coconut water is normally discarded. Moreover, MCW is considered as waste in the market after the extraction of coconut meat. The young coconut husk is considered waste and can be processed as a potential source of bioethanol. The coconut sap was explored considering the number of coconut trees in the country. The initial sugar concentration of the YCW, MCW, CS, and YCHJ are 4.39 ­+ 0.3, 3.76 + 0.44 ­, 9.51 + 1.86, and 4.85 + 0.65 0Bx, respectively. The fermentation process was done for 72 hours using Saccharomyces cerevisiae as the fermenting yeast. The obtained bioethanol yields for YCW, MCW, YCHJ, and CS were 31.67, 15.71, 16.89, and 64.42 mL of ethanol per liter of their raw materials, respectively. The highest bioethanol yield was obtained using the CS and a lower energy is required in the process because of its high initial sugar concentration. The production cost was computed for each raw material that was shown to be higher compared to the bioethanol price index of Php 81.68 per liter using sugarcane molasses as feedstock.