Integrated Alkali–Enzyme Pretreatment Enhances Xylitol and Ethanol Production from Agricultural Residues Using Kluyveromyces spp. and Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Affiliations: Department of Biosciences, Grand Asian University Sialkot, 7 km Pasrur Road, Sialkot, Pakistan Department of Chemistry, University of Baltistan, Skardu, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan Department of Biotechnology, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan
Abstract
Lignocellulosic agricultural residues are abundant, underused feedstocks whose open burning contributes to environmental pollution. This study evaluated sugarcane bagasse, wheat straw, and corn cob for integrated xylitol and ethanol production. Biomass was subjected to acid or alkali pretreatment followed by enzymatic saccharification, and the resulting liquor and residual fractions were fermented with Kluyveromyces spp. and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Alkali–enzyme-treated sugarcane bagasse liquor produced the highest xylose concentration (36.27 g/L), whereas its residue contained 6.21 g/L glucose. Kluyveromyces spp. produced 28.54 g/L xylitol from sugarcane bagasse liquor, corresponding to a reported yield of 78.68% and volumetric productivity of 0.016 g/L/h. S. cerevisiae produced 4.26 g/L ethanol from the bagasse residue, with a reported yield of 69.40% and productivity of 0.236 g/L/h. Wheat straw hydrolysate showed the highest reported apparent xylitol yield (121.29%) at pH 6, indicating a need to verify the yield basis while confirming the strong influence of substrate composition and pH. Overall, combining alkali pretreatment with enzymatic saccharification improved fermentable-sugar recovery and supported dual-product valorization of agricultural residues. Sugarcane bagasse was the most promising feedstock for integrated xylitol and ethanol production, although scale-up, inhibitor control, and techno-economic evaluation remain necessary.
Keywords: Lignocellulosic biomass; sugarcane bagasse; xylitol; ethanol; alkali pretreatment; enzymatic saccharification; yeast fermentation
Article Information
Declarations
Funding
This research received no external funding.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Ethics approval
Not applicable
Data availability
Data supporting the findings are retained in the laboratory records of the Department of Biosciences, Grand Asian University Sialkot, Pakistan, and the Department of Chemistry, University of Baltistan, Skardu, Pakistan, and may be requested from the corresponding author.
Author contributions
Muhammad Noman: Conceptualization, methodology, investigation, data curation, formal analysis, visualization, and writing—original draft preparation. Malik Alamgir: Methodology, validation, formal analysis, and writing—review and editing. Irum Badshah Saleem: Supervision, resources, validation, interpretation of results, and writing—review and editing. Muhammad Noman: Project administration and correspondence. All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Full Text
The complete peer-reviewed version of record is available as the JBSS article PDF.
Read Full Article PDFHow to Cite and Export
Muhammad Noman*, Malik Alamgir, Irum Badshah Saleem. Integrated Alkali–Enzyme Pretreatment Enhances Xylitol and Ethanol Production from Agricultural Residues Using Kluyveromyces spp. and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Journal of Biological and Sustainability Sciences. 2025;1(1):42-49. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21527056