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Synthesis of Bioethanol by Dark Fermentation Using Marine Seaweed Acanthophora spicifera (Vahl.) Borgesen as a Cheap Substrate

Umamaheswari A, Saranraj P, Rajesh Kanna G, Elumalai S and Sangeetha T

The Indian subcontinent constitutes about 7516.6 km of Coastal cover on the three borders and thus rich in marine biodiversity. More than 200 species of seaweeds have been reported to exist in this region attached to the surface of the rocks. Many seaweed based industries have been laid in these coastal zones and they utilize seaweed as raw materials for the production of agar and alginate. Several research studies reveal that the seaweed biomasses are rich in simple and complex sugars and can be utilized as a cost effective substrate for the commercial production of bioethanol. In many parts of the world the commercial exploitation and evaluation of bioethanol production from seaweeds are being practiced. However, India is rich in marine bio resources for the cultivation of seaweeds and can be directly utilized for the biochemical conversion of sugars into bioethanol. The present research study is an initial step for the commercial exploitation of marine seaweed Acanthophora spicifera (Vahl.) Borgesen for the bioethanol production. In which, the bioethanol synthesis was analyzed between both the raw substrate (Powdered seaweed biomass) and raw substrate with banana fruit supplement. The accumulation of bioethanol was almost similar in both the substrate when growing baker’s yeast. And from the results, it has been revealed that approximately 6 % of bioethanol yield was obtained from the raw seaweed substrate. Therefore, this present small scale pilot study hugely supports the commercial exploitation of marine seaweeds for the bioethanol production.