Enzymes afford numerous advantages compared to acidic
hydrolysis because they work under mild conditions, are biodegradable,
improve yields, reduce energy, water consumption and
the amount of by-products (Israilides et al., 2008). The strategy
for the use of enzymes in the production of bio-ethanol from starch
includes two stages: liquefaction and saccharification. In liquefaction
a-amylase, obtained either from thermoresistant bacteria
such as Bacillus licheniformis or from engineered strains of Escherichia
coli or Bacillus subtilis are used to decrease viscosity in the
slurry or produce dextrins. In saccharification the enzymes use
dextrins to make glucose (Sanchez and Cardona, 2008).
In this paper we present a new PPW hydrolysis with a specific
combination of enzymes and/or hydrochloric acid, subsequently
fermented by Saccharomyces cerevisae var. bayanus to determine
fermentability and ethanol production. The novelty of the
approach lies in the application of the specific enzyme mix, which
includes a cellulolytic enzyme, aiming at the highest possible
fermentable sugar release for the production of ethanol.