Ethanol production via co-fermentation of C₆ and C₅ sugars from steam-pretreated sugarcane bagasse hydrolysates using non-GM yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae CAT-1 and Spathaspora hagerdaliae UFMG-CMY-303

Co-cultivation involving Saccharomyces cerevisiae CAT-1 and native Spathaspora hagerdaliae UFMG-CM Y303 was used to produce ethanol from sugars obtained from steam-exploded sugarcane bagasse (SCB-SE) after enzymatic hydrolysis. The fermentation process was carried out under separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) and simultaneous hydrolysis and fermentation (SSF). The use of co-cultivation enabled the conversion of both glucose and xylose present in the SCB-SE pretreated at 200 degrees C for 8 min to ethanol, reaching a production of 0.5 g of ethanol per g of SCB-SE in 5-L-volume bioreactors in SSF. It was found that acetic acid above a concentration of 2 g L-1 was harmful to ethanol production by the strain S. hagerdaliae UFMG-CM-Y303. The experimental results presented here contribute to the development of co-cultivation for the simultaneous conversion of C5 and C6 sugars for ethanol production.