Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of pretreatedAntigonum leptopus (Linn) leaves to ethanol

Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) of alkaline hydrogen peroxide pretreated Antigonum leptopus (Linn) leaves to ethanol was optimized using cellulase from Trichoderma reesei QM-9414 (Celluclast® from Novo) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae NRRL-Y-132 cells. Contrary to the saccharification optima (2.5% w/v substrate concentration, 50 °C, 4.5 pH, 40 FPU cellulase g−1 substrate and 24 h reaction time), the SSF optima was found to be somewhat different (10% w/v substrate, 40 °C, 100 FPU cellulase g−1 substrate and 72 h). Better ethanol yields were obtained with SSF compared with the traditional saccharification and subsequent fermentation (S&F) and when the cellulase was supplemented with β-glucosidase.