Considerable concern is caused by the problem of potato peel waste (PPW) to potato industries in Europe.
An integrated, environmentally-friendly solution is yet to be found and is currently undergoing investigation.
Potato peel is a zero value waste produced by potato processing plants. However, bio-ethanol produced
from potato wastes has a large potential market. If Federal Government regulations are adopted in
light of the Kyoto agreement, the mandatory blending of bio-ethanol with traditional gasoline in amounts
up to 10% will result in a demand for large quantities of bio-ethanol. PPW contain sufficient quantities of
starch, cellulose, hemicellulose and fermentable sugars to warrant use as an ethanol feedstock. In the
present study, a number of batches of PPW were hydrolyzed with various enzymes and/or acid, and fermented
by Saccharomyces cerevisae var. bayanus to determine fermentability and ethanol production.
Enzymatic hydrolysis with a combination of three enzymes, released 18.5 g L1 reducing sugar and produced
7.6 g L1 of ethanol after fermentation. The results demonstrate that PPW, a by-product of the
potato industry features a high potential for ethanol production.