Yeast strain can increase ethanol production by 15.5%

April 14, 2019 |

In India, researchers from the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, DBT-ICGEB Centre for Advanced Bioenergy Research discovered that a robust yeast strain can produce up to 15.5% more ethanol when glucose or lignocellulose biomass — rice and wheat straw — is fermented and has been isolated.

With India’s biofuel target going from the current 5% to 10% by 2022, researchers are looking at ways to get more ethanol from rice and wheat straw to meet the growing requirement.

“The team led by Dr. Naseem A. Gaur from the Yeast Biofuel Group at ICGEB isolated 500 yeast-like colonies from different natural habitats — distillery waste, dairy waste, hot springs, sewage and algal bloom,” according to The Hindu. “After screening, 25 yeast-like colonies were chosen and an additional nine yeast strains from the National Culture collection of Industrial Microorganisms (NCIM), Pune, were included for evaluation. Of these, one strain was found to suitable for fermenting rice and wheat straw.”

Category: Research

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