Fermentación de los fructanos del Agave tequilana Weber Azul por Zymomonas mobilis y Saccharomyces cerevisiae en la producción de bioetanol

Fructans contained in the base of agave leaves were extracted, hydrolyzed and used as carbon source at several concentrations for the production of bioethanol through two different ethanolgenic microorganisms: the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae CDBB-L-331 and the bacterium Zymomonas mobilis CDBB-B-603. The leaves of agave tequilana (Agave tequilana Weber Azul) constitute the agricultural crop residues and despite its high content of total reducing sugars (TRS) and the large volumes generated each year, they are not currently used. The results show that Zymomonas mobilis is able to grow to higher levels of TRS produces more ethanol and tolerate higher concentrations of it. The yield in ethanol production, conversion efficiency and volumetric productivity were also higher when fermentation was carried out with Zymomonas mobilis at a concentration of 20% of TRS.