Background: The production of second generation ethanol fromlignocellulosic biomasses that have not had their
potential fully explored as feedstock is of great importance.
Arundo donax
is one these biomasses. It is a promising
grassy plant to be used as a renewable resource for the production of fuels and chemicals, because of its fast
growth rate, ability to grow in different soil types and climatic conditions. The present study evaluated its use
as feedstock for the production of second generation ethanol.
Results: Initially its chemical characterization was carried out, and a protocol for fractioning the biomass through
diluted acid pretreatment followed by alkaline pretreatmentwas developed, providing a solid fractionwhich was
undergone to enzymatic hydrolysis reaching 42 g/L of glucose, obtained in 30 h of enzymatic hydrolysis. This
partially delignified material was subjected to a simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process,
resulting in an ethanol concentration of 39 g/L at 70 h.
Conclusions: The fermentability of the pretreated biomasswas performed successfully through the conception of
simultaneous saccharification and fermentation resulting in approximately 75 L of ethanol per ton of cellulose.
