Optimisation of Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation (SSF) for Biobutanol Production Using Pretreated Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch

• Main Authors: Nur Atheera Aiza Md Razali, Mohamad Faizal Ibrahim, Ezyana Kamal Bahrin, Suraini Abd-Aziz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-08-01
• Series: Molecules
• Subjects: simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF); oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB); biobutanol; Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824; optimisation
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/23/8/1944

This study was conducted in order to optimise simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) for biobutanol production from a pretreated oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) by Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824. Temperature, initial pH, cellulase loading and substrate concentration were screened using one factor at a time (OFAT) and further statistically optimised by central composite design (CCD) using the response surface methodology (RSM) approach. Approximately 2.47 g/L of biobutanol concentration and 0.10 g/g of biobutanol yield were obtained after being screened through OFAT with 29.55% increment (1.42 fold). The optimised conditions for SSF after CCD were: temperature of 35 °C, initial pH of 5.5, cellulase loading of 15 FPU/g-substrate and substrate concentration of 5% (w/v). This optimisation study resulted in 55.95% increment (2.14 fold) of biobutanol concentration equivalent to 3.97 g/L and biobutanol yield of 0.16 g/g. The model and optimisation design obtained from this study are important for further improvement of biobutanol production, especially in consolidated bioprocessing technology.