title: Miscanthus as cellulosic biomass for bioethanol production.
abstract: The members of the genus Miscanthus are potential feedstocks for biofuels because of the promising high yields of biomass per unit of planted area. This review addresses species, cultivation, and lignocellulose composition of Miscanthus, as well as pretreatment and enzyme saccharification of Miscanthus biomass for ethanol fermentation. The average cellulose contents in dried biomass of Miscanthus floridulus, Miscanthus sinensis, Miscanthus sacchariflorus, and Miscanthus × giganteus (M × G) are 37.2, 37.6, 38.9, and 41.1% wt/wt, respectively. A number of pretreatment methods have been applied in order to enhance digestibility of Miscanthus biomass for enzymatic saccharification. Pretreatment of Miscanthus using liquid hot water or alkaline results in a significant release of glucose; while glucose yields can be 90% or higher if a pretreatment like AFEX that combines both chemical and physical processes is used. As ethanol is produced by yeast fermentation of the hydrolysate from enzymatic hydrolysis of residual solids (pulp) after pretreatment, theoretical ethanol yields are 0.211-0.233 g/g-raw biomass if only cellulose is taken into account. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of pretreated M × G and M. lutarioriparius results in experimental ethanol yields of 0.13 and 0.15 g/g-raw biomass, respectively. Co-production of value-added products can reduce the overall production cost of bioethanol.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Systems Biology and Tissue Engineering Research Center, National Chung Cheng University, Minhsiung, Chiayi, Taiwan. chmwcl@ccu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Wen-Chien
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Systems Biology and Tissue Engineering Research Center, National Chung Cheng University, Minhsiung, Chiayi, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wei-Chih
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Kuan
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels; D018533:Biomass; D001709:Biotechnology; D044602:Cellulases; D002482:Cellulose / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D006109:Poaceae / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D000431:Ethanol; D002482:Cellulose; D044602:Cellulases
keywords: Cellulosic ethanol; Enzymatic saccharification; Lignocellulosic biomass; Miscanthus; Pretreatment