In contrast to S. cerevisiae, there was a marginal fall (5.5% over
initial content) in total sugar albeit no production of ethanol after
24 h of fermentation by Z. mobilis. The marginal decrease in sugar
reserve might be due to its utilization for growth and metabolism
by Zymomonas. After 24 h, there was a gradual increase in ethanol
concentration over the incubation period with simultaneous decrease
in total sugar (Fig. 1B). At the end of 96 h incubation, the
ethanol production from Z. mobilis from mahula flowers was
122.9 g kg1. The result shows that Z. mobilis was significantly less
efficient than S. cerevisiae [Fisher’s LSD test, P < 0.05, LSD between
treatments is 1.48 (sugar utilization) and 1.3 (ethanol production)]
in converting sugar into ethanol at least in the case of mahula
flowers.