Investigating the Processing Potential of Ethiopian Agricultural Residue Enset/Ensete ventricosum for Biobutanol Production

Abstract

The Enset plant is a potential food source for about 20 million Ethiopians. A massive amount of residual byproduct is discarded from traditional Ethiopian Enset food processing. This study shows a compositional analysis of Enset biomass and its use for biobutanol production. The Enset biomass was pretreated with 2% (w/v) NaOH or 2% (v/v) H2SO4 and subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis. The enzymatic hydrolysates were then fermented anaerobically by C. saccharoperbutylacetonicum DSM 14923. The majority of Enset biomass waste samples contained 36–67% cellulose, 16–20% hemicelluloses, and less than 6.8% lignin. In all alkali-pretreated Enset biomass samples, the enzyme converted 80–90% of the biomass to glucose within 24 h, while it took 60 h to convert 48–80% of the acid-pretreated Enset biomass. In addition, the alkali pretreatment method released more glucose than the acid pretreatment in all Enset biomass samples. After 72 h of ABE fermentation, 2.8 g/L acetone, 9.9 g/L butanol, and 1.6 g/L ethanol were produced from mixed Enset waste hydrolysate pretreated with alkali, achieving an ABE yield of 0.32 g/g and productivity of 0.2 g × L−1 × h−1, showing the first value of butanol produced from Enset biomass in the literature.

Caproate production from Enset fiber in one-pot two-step fermentation using anaerobic fungi (Neocallimastix cameroonii strain G341) and Clostridium kluyveri DSM 555

“…This could be due to the structural difference of the lignocellulosic biomass. Studies showed that Enset ber has lower lignin and higher cellulose content than wheat straw [5], which could make Enset ber a more suitable substrate for the fungi. Geoffrey L. et al [29] conducted experiments in order to determine whether lignin is degraded by ruminal fungi, Neocallimastix sp.…”

“…An enormous amount of byproduct known as Enset biomass is thrown away during traditional Ethiopian Enset food processing. A major source of cellulose from the Enset plant is the Enset ber, midrib, and leaf sheath peel, which contain 67.1%, 40%, and 34.1% cellulose, respectively [5]. Recent studies have shown that Enset biomass is a very promising lignocellulosic biomass for biobutanol [5] and pulp [6] production.…”

“…A major source of cellulose from the Enset plant is the Enset ber, midrib, and leaf sheath peel, which contain 67.1%, 40%, and 34.1% cellulose, respectively [5]. Recent studies have shown that Enset biomass is a very promising lignocellulosic biomass for biobutanol [5] and pulp [6] production. However, to produce biofuel from Enset biomass, the material must undergo a degradation process that includes chemical and physical pretreatments before being hydrolyzed by enzymes.…”

Prehydrolysis soda pulping of Enset fiber for production of dissolving grade pulp and biogas

“…The hemicellulose in the bers is mostly highly acetylated xylanes ranging from 15.6-27.6%. [1][2][3][4] The high cellulose and low lignin content of Enset ber promotes its utilization for the production of dissolving pulp.…”

Optimized Isolation and Characterization of Cellulose for Extraction of Cellulose Nanocrystals from Ensete Ventricosum Pseudo-Stem Fiber Using Two-Stage Extraction Method

“…Bulla, Kocho, and Amicho are three foods made from the crop that are excellent sources of starch and carbohydrates (Olango et al, 2014a;Yemataw et al, 2018). Additionally, this plant is an excellent source of ber and animal feed (Seid et al, 2022). Enset can be grown in a much larger area to feed more than 100 million people and improve food security in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda, according to recent modeling studies.…”