Alcohol production from tapioca waste of the sago industry

An investigation was carried out at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University to utilize tapioca waste from the sago industry, a major waste left unutilized, which may be effectively used for bio ethanol production. Sago industry waste is abundantly available in Tamil Nadu, India, especially in the southern belt comprising of Salem, Erode and Bhavani. In the present study, amylase and the chemical agents HCl and H2SO4 were used separately to determine the most effective saccharifying agent. In comparison with different concentrations (0.1 to 0.8 N) of HCl and H2SO4 treatments, the amylase enzyme at a concentration of 67.5 Ug-1 of 0.6 ml for 60 hr at a temperature of 45 0C served as effective saccharifying agent. It effectively recovered reducing sugar level of 80.2 % from sago industry wastes. The saccharified substrate was subjected to fermentation with an effective yeast strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae YS10 isolated from sugarcane molasses. In the cell free extracts, alcohol recovery of 16.8 % was noticed in sago industry wastes after 15 days of fermentation. Thus, proving its potentiality in the current scenario of recycling the sago industry wastes into bioethanol as a gift to biofuel ultimately to mankind by which the current alarming problem of price rise and demand in the fuel sector can be minimized.