Production of Bioethanol from Carrot Pomace Using the Thermotolerant Yeast <i>Kluyveromyces marxianus</i>

Carrot pomace, a major agricultural waste from the juice industry, was used as a feedstock for bioethanol production by fermentation with the thermotolerant yeast <i>Kluyveromyces marxianus</i>. Treatment of the carrot pomace with Accellerase^TM 1000 and pectinase at 50 °C for 84 h, resulted in conversion of 42% of its mass to fermentable sugars, mainly glucose, fructose, and sucrose. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) at 42 °C was performed on 10% (<i>w</i>/<i>v</i>) carrot pomace; the concentration of ethanol reached 18 g/L and the yield of ethanol from carrot pomace was 0.18 g/g. The highest ethanol concentration of 37 g/L was observed with an additional charge of 10% supplemented to the original 10% of carrot pomace after 12 h; the corresponding yield was 0.185 g/g. Our results clearly demonstrated the potential of combining a SSF process with thermotolerant yeast for the production of bioethanol using carrot pomace as a feedstock.