Chemical Analysis and Utilization of Sargassum sp. as Substrate for Ethanol Production

The brown seaweed Sargassum sp. is a promising feedstock for ethanol production because of itsrelatively high content (41.6% dry basis) of holocellulose. Chemical pretreatment of the seaweed was carriedout with 1% (v/v) H2SO4 solution at 5% solid loading for 15 min at 121°C prior to saccharification with commercial cellulase. The cellulose-to-glucose conversion efficiency after 72 hours incubation was 49.84% and61.54% for the untreated and chemically treated biomass, respectively.The algal residue after pretreatmentwith dilute acid was subjected to either simultaneous enzymatic saccharification and fermentation (SESF) orseparate enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation (SEHF). Saccharomyces cerevisiae was used for ethanolfermentation. The cellulose to ethanol conversions forSESF and SEHF were 66.9 and 34.1%, respectively.