PRODUCTION OF BIOETHANOL FROM CILEMBU SWEET POTATO VIA SIMULTANEOUS SACCHARIFICATION FERMENTATION (SSF) PROCESS USING ENDOGENOUS CILEMBU SWEET POTATO ENZYMES

• Main Author: Pujo Ardana, Javier
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/87808
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Indonesia is one of the countries with a substantial production of sweet potatoes, totaling 1,914,244 tons in 2018 (Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Indonesia). However, the utilization of sweet potatoes in Indonesia remains limited. Sweet potatoes are a plant-based product with a high starch content, making them a promising feedstock for bioethanol production. Conventional bioethanol production from sweet potatoes involves the use of exogenous enzymes during the liquefaction and saccharification processes. In this study, endogenous enzymes present in sweet potatoes were utilized for bioethanol production. However, the use of endogenous enzymes results in the production of maltose. Therefore, additional agents are needed to convert maltose into glucose. Germinated seeds are known to have high levels of a-amylase, which is thought to assist the breaking down of maltose into glucose in the fermentation process of sweet potatoes into bioethanol. The objective of this research is to produce bioethanol from Ubi Cilembu (Cilembu sweet potato) using the endogenous enzymes contained within the Ubi Cilembu and to enhance the yield of ethanol production.. The study employed the Simultaneous Sacharification and Fermentation (SSF) method for 48 hours. Cilembu sweet potatoes were supplemented with germinated mung beans and soybeans at various concentrations (20%, 30%, 40%, 50%). Fermentation samples were analyzed using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) to measure ethanol and residual glucose content. Preliminary tests before fermentation were conducted with HPLC to determine the initial glucose content in sweet potatoes, germinated mung bean, and germinated soybean. The results indicated that the addition of germinated mung bean and soybean led to a decrease in ethanol yield. Higher concentrations of germinated seeds in the substrate resulted in a lower ethanol yield.