Desenvolvimento de tecnologia para produção de bioetanol a partir da semente de jaca (Artocarpus heterophyllus L.).

Abstract

Currently, the Brazilian energy matrix centralizes all their production of bioethanol from sugar cane, however, in view of the vast biodiversity found in its territory, Brazil has a wide variety of agricultural and agro-industrial waste whose bioprocessing for bioethanol production arouses a great economic and social interest. In this context, the present research was to study the use of jackfruit seeds (residue) as a source of starch for the production of bioethanol. For ultimate removal of this starch in jackfruit seeds, they were subjected to extraction and purification steps. Physical and chemical parameters were determined for both the seeds and the starch extracted from jackfruit seeds. The starch material obtained was then subjected to hydrolytic treatments using sulfuric and phosphoric acids as catalysts, following a full 23 factorial design with three central points. We defined as independent variables the temperature (80, 100, 120 °C), the reaction time (30, 60 and 90 min.) and the concentration of the acid (1, 3 and 5%), the dependent variables were the glucose concentrations and hydroxymethylfurfural (g.L-1) present in the hydrolyzed liquor. In order to observe and evaluate the effect of acid treatments, based on the optimized operating conditions on the surface of starch granules extracted from jackfruit seeds, scanning electron microscopy technique (SEM) was used. The liquors hydrolyzed by sulfuric and phosphoric acids, obtained in the optimized operating conditions, underwent fermentation trials in a dry incubator with orbital shaking at 160 rpm, under controlled temperature of 32 °C, using industrial yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y904 as microorganism, and the industrial nutritional compound Nitrophós as nutrients. The starch material extracted from jackfruit seeds showed high starch content (85.5%). We found higher concentrations of glucose, 32.98 and 31.23 g.L-1 to hydrolytic treatment with sulfuric and phosphoric acids respectively, concurrently, with concentrations of hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) which would not inhibit the fermentative process, 0.53 and 0, 08 g.L-1 for treatment with sulfuric and phosphoric acids, respectively. These were found in the test run under the most severe conditions attached to the planning matrix, namely, 120 °C, 5% acid concentration and 90 min. reaction. The hydrolytic treatment of starch conducted with sulfuric acid hydrolysis showed higher efficiency (70.13%) compared to treatment efficiency achieved by employing phosphoric acid (66.41%). The micrographs revealed the characteristic morphology of jackfruit seed starch granules, confirming hemisphere and ellipsoid formats, and sizes ranging from 4 to 9 μm, as well as its structural modifications caused by the action of acid during the hydrolytic treatment . The fermentation trials with liquors hydrolyzed by sulfuric and phosphoric acids showed fermentation efficiencies of 97.85 and 95.89%, respectively, thus indicating that the yeast was capable of metabolizing substantially all the limiting substrate (glucose) present in liquors from ethanol. Considering the results obtained in all steps undertaken during this research, it is concluded that the extracted starch jackfruit seeds appeared as a promising raw material for the production of bioethanol.