Optimization of alkali pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of Banana pseudostem for ethanol production by RSM

The alkali pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of banana pseudostem (BPS) for the production of ethanol was optimized using response surface methodology. Alkali concentration, temperature and time were considered as independent variables and reducing sugars concentration was a response variable. Pretreatment of BPS was performed at different alkali concentration, temperature and pretreatment time. Enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated BPS was done at constant cellulase enzyme loading 20 FPU/g of biomass and yield of reducing sugars (YRS) with respect to time was observed. Enzymatic hydrolysis was also studied at different enzyme loadings (5 - 30 FPU/g of solid). It was found that when BPS was pretreated by 8 % NaOH at 110°C for 2.5 h, the yield of reducing sugars reached 63% by enzymatic hydrolysis with cellulase enzyme loading of 30 FPU/g of solid.