Effect of activated charcoal treatment on bioethanol production using agricultural residue cocoa pod shell

Recently liquid biofuels have proven to be a promising strategy to overcome the energy crisis. Agricultural residues such as lignocellulose are hydrolyzed and fermented to produce bioethanol. Fermentation interrupters such as furan derivatives and phenolic compounds obstruct the fermentation and eventuate with low concentration of bioethanol. These interventions in the formation of bioethanol make it inevitable to eliminate it from the fermentation media for the survival of microorganism to produce the desired product. Current investigation is focused on two strategies using 1% w/v of activated charcoal to improve the pretreatment and fermentation process. The concentration of bioethanol was compared to understand the effect of activated charcoal on the bioethanol production process. Group I: Cocoa pod shell was hydrolyzed and then treated with activated charcoal, while in Group II: Cocoa pod shell was hydrolyzed along with activated charcoal. Bioethanol concentration in Group I and Group II were observed to be 0.006 mg/mL and 3.06 mg/mL respectively. The investigation indicates that the strategy of cocoa pod shell hydrolysis with activated charcoal had a significant effect on bioethanol concentration.