PRODUCTION OF BIOETHANOL FROM WHEY MILK VIA BIOTECHNOLOGY

Abstract

Hydrolysis of lactose and production of ethanol as a biofuel was evaluated and conducted in the present study. Lactose was hydrolyzed by Lactase (ß-D-galactosidase) which produced by Candida pseudotropicalis that grown in whey and synthetic media. In addition, optimum pH and incubation temperature for lactose hydrolysis by Candida pseudotropicalis were studied and were found to be pH 3 and 37ºC respectively. On the other hand, two isolates and one strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae were used to produce bioethanol from glucose and galactose which released after hydrolysis of lactose by Candida pseudotropicalis. The present study showed that the strain was the best in bioethanol production from glucose with level reached to 1.21 % (v/v). Moreover, intergeneric protoplast fusion was done between Candida pseudotropicalis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae to be as one microorgansim instead of two to facilitate, besides optimize the efficiency of bioethanol fermentation and production by the fusant which give 3.27% bioethanol from whey cheese.