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Sustainable 2G Ethanol Production From Switchgrass Biomass via Co-Fermentation of Pentoses and Hexoses Using Novel Wild Yeasts


 The production of second generation (2G) ethanol remains an interesting proposition for the implementation of sustainable and net carbon-neutral energy systems. 2G makes use of renewable lignocellulosic feedstocks, generating fermentable sugars that are converted to ethanol or other bio-based products. To be economically viable, 2G biorefineries must make use of all processing streams, including the less desirable C5 sugar stream. In this work, a strategy of sequential acid and alkaline pretreatment of the lignocellulosic feedstock switchgrass for improvement of fermentable sugar yield, and the subsequent utilization of wild yeasts for co-fermentation of its C5-C6 sugar streams are presented. Hemicellulose-enriched hydrolysates, obtained by dilute acid pretreatment of switchgrass, were fermented by a newly-isolated wild Scheffersomyces parashehatae strain–UFMG-HM-60.1b; corresponding ethanol yield (YPS) and volumetric productivity (QP) were 0.19 g/g and 0.16 g/L h, respectively. Afterwards, the remaining switchgrass cellulignin fraction was subjected to optimized alkaline delignification at 152 ºC for 30 min. The delignified solid fraction was subjected to contiguous enzymatic saccharification and fermentation, releasing a C6 sugar stream in which Saccharomyces cerevisiae 174 strain displayed a productivity of 0.46 g/g (YPS) and 0.70 g/L h (QP), whereas the S. parashehatae UFMG-HM-60.1b presented YPS and QP of 0.29 g/g and 0.38 g/L h, respectively. Upon combining the conversion of hemicellulose (37%) and cellulose-derived sugars (57%), the S. parashehatae strain provided higher yield (94%) than the generic S. cerevisiae (90%). Henceforth, our integrated pretreatment and co-fermentation process provides a pathway for maximum utilization of the switchgrass carbohydrates for 2G ethanol production.