Production of bioethanol from wheat straw via optimization of co-culture conditions of Bacillus licheniformis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Abstract Bioethanol production has been a challenge for the researchers with respect to enhancing the bioethanol yield. In this study, we are reporting an efficient novel method to produce bioethanol. The process comprises co-culture technique to produce bioethanol from wheat straw, by co-culturingBacillus licheniformisandSaccharomyces cerevisiae.Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation allows wheat straw hydrolysis by cellulase enzyme produced byBacillus licheniformisand conversion of produced reducing sugar into ethanol bySaccharomyces cerevisiae. Pre-treatment of wheat straw and optimization of co-culturing parameters like, time, pH, substrate concentrations and nitrogen source concentrations gave a net yield of ⁓ 4.11 g/l bioethanol. Scale up of optimised media to fermenter has resulted in a significant enhancement of bioethanol production to ⁓ 14.70 g/l.