<i>Balanites Aegyptiaca</i> Fruits' Valorisation by Liquid Biofuels Production

Abstract

Today, the fight against global warming is a major challenge for the whole world. The widespread use of biofuels is indeed one of the credible alternatives that can lead to a significant reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study aims to promote the fruits of the desert date in bioenergy. The various treatments showed that the fruits are composed of 52.67 ± 0.18% of nuclei, 40.08 ± 0.50% of mesocarps and 7.26 ± 0.33% of epicarps and other solid particles. From the mesocarps, bioethanol was produced with a yield of 14.74 ± 0.06%; while by Soxhlet extraction of almonds with hexane gave a vegetable oil with a yield of 44.58 ± 5.69%. The monitoring of the ethanolic fermentation reaction, carried out with Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeasts revealed that a pH of 4.0 optimized the reaction, with an attenuation limit of 54.17%. GC-FID analysis showed that other reactions which should compete with ethanolic fermentation, were almost inhibited by the effectiveness of the kinetic control. GC-FID analysis of the chemical composition of the biodiesel produced with the crude oil has showed the presence of oleic acid (41.90%), linoleic acid (29.27%), palmitic acid (12.47%), β-linolenic (10.89%) and stearic (1.17%). Physicochemical analysis and the comparison of energy characteristics indicated that the biofuels produced in this study have properties similar to those of petrodiesel and some standard biofuels. Therefore, the fruits of Balanites aegyptiaca are an interesting source of liquid biofuels that can replace petrol and conventional diesel, the most used fossil fuels in transportation.