[Effect of byproducts in lignocellulose hydrolysates on ethanol fermentation by Issatchenkia orientalis]

Byproducts in lignocellulose hydrolysates, namely sodium formate (1 to 5 g/L), sodium acetic (2.5 to 8.0 g/L), furfural (0.2-2 g/L), 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF, 1 to 1.0 g/L) or vanillin (0.5 to 2 g/L) were used to evaluate their effects on ethanol fermentation by Issatchenkia orientalis HN-1 using single factor test and the response surface central composite experiment. Results showed that most of the byproducts had no obvious inhibition on the production of ethanol, except for the addition of 2 g/L vanillin or 1 g/L of 5-HMF, which reduced the ethanol production by 20.38% and 11.2%, respectively. However, high concentration of some byproducts in lignocellulose hydrolysates, such as sodium formate (1 to 5 g/L), sodium acetic (2.5 to 8.0 g/L), furfural (0.2 to 2 g/L) and vanillin (0.5 to 2 g/L) inhibited the growth of I. orientalis HN-1 significantly. Compared with the control, the dry cell weight of I. orientalis HN-1 decreased by 25.04% to 37.02%, 28.83% to 43.82%, 20.06% to 37.60% and 26.39% to 52.64%, respectively, when the above components were added into the fermentation broth and the fermentation lasted for 36 h. No significant interaction effect of the various inhibitors (sodium formate, sodium acetic, furfural and vanillin) except for vanillin single factor on the ethanol production was observed based on the central composite experiments. The concentrations of byproducts in most lignocellulose hydrolysates were below the initial inhibition concentration on ethanol production by Issatchenkia orientalis HN-1, which indicated that Issatchenkia orientalis HN-1 can be used for ethanol production from lignocellulose hydrolysates.