Bioresource Technology 99 (2008) 9036–9039
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Bioresource Technology
journal homepage: www.elsevier .com/locate/bior tech
Short Communication
Ethanol production from henequen (Agave fourcroydes Lem.)
juice and molasses by a mixture of two yeasts
Mirbella Cáceres-Farfán a, Patricia Lappe b, Alfonso Larqué-Saavedra a, Abdo Magdub-Méndez a,
Luis Barahona-Pérez a,*
aCentro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán, A. C. Calle 43 No. 130, Chuburná de Hidalgo, Mérida 97200, Yucatán, Mexico
b Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 3er Circuito S/N, Ciudad Universitaria, Del. Coyoacán, México D.F. 04510, Mexico
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history:
Received 13 July 2007
Received in revised form 2 April 2008
Accepted 5 April 2008
Available online 3 June 2008
Keywords:
Henequen
Alcohol
Kluyveromyces marxianus
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Sugars
0960-8524/$ - see front matter 2008 Elsevier Ltd. A
doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2008.04.063
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +52 999 9428330; fax
E-mail address: barahona@cicy.mx (L. Barahona-P
a b s t r a c t
In the fermentation process of henequen (Agave fourcroydes Lem.) leaf juice, complemented with indus-
trial molasses, the use of an inoculum comprising two yeasts: Kluyveromyces marxianus (isolated from the
henequen plant) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (commercial strain) was studied. An ethanol production of
5.22 ± 1.087% v/v was obtained. Contrary to expected, a decrease on ethanol production was observed
with the use of the K. marxianus strain. The best results were obtained when a mixture of 25% K. marxi-
anus and 75% S. cerevisiae or S. cerevisiae alone were used with an initial inoculum concentration of
3 107 cell mL1. Furthermore, it was possible to detect a final concentration of approximately 2–
4 g L1 of reducing sugars that are not metabolized by the yeasts for the ethanol production. These results
show that although the use of a mixture of yeasts can be of interest for the production of alcoholic bev-
erages