[Primary Sources]

Feedstock Sources

Ethanol production can be produce from many different raw materials, which are grouped
according to the type of carbohydrates they contain, i.e. sugar, starch, or cellulose. Table below presents
the possible feedstock sources with its advantages and disadvantages.

[Matthewson, S.W. 1980. The Manual for the Home and Farm Production of Alcohol Fuel. J.A.
Diaz Publications: Hongkong]

[Roehr, M. 2001. The Bioetechnology of Ethanol: Classical and Future Application. Wiley-VCH
Verlag GmbH, Weinheim.]

Feedstock Sources Examples Advantages (+) and

Saccharine materials Sugar cane, sugar beets, fruits,
molasses, can sorghum, whey
and skim milk
Starchy materials Corn, grain sorghum, barley,
wheat, potatoes, cassava, sweet
potatoes and Jerusalem
artichokes
Cellulosic materials Wood, wood waste, paper,
straw, corn stalks, corn cobs,
cotton, paper sludge and
bagasse
-Yield are typically low, resulting
Disadvantages (-)
+Requires least extensive
preparation
+Contains high carbohydrates
content
-Expensive and competes with
foods
-2 Requires pretreatment
before fermentation
+Cheap and locally available
+Produce most alcohol on
weight basis
-4 competes directly with the
food and feed sources
-2 Requires pretreatment
before fermentation
+Economical in terms of labor
an energy requirement
-cheap but requires large
quantities of materials
-requires an extensive and
costly process to convert
cellulose materials to
fermentable sugars
to substantial waste streams
requiring costly disposal.

Types of Hydrolases

[Aiyer, P. V. 2005. Amylases and their Applications. Afr. J. Biotechnol 4(13), 1525-1529]
[Van der Maarel, M.J. E. C., van der Veen, B., Uitdehaag, J.C.M., Leemhuis, H., and Dijkhuizen, L. 2002.
Properties and applications of starch-converting of the alpha-amylase family (review article). J.
Bioetechnol. 94, 137-155.]
Type Description
Alpha-amylase A well-known endoamylase
which cleaves alpha-1.4
glycosidic bonds
β-amylase An exoamylase which
hydrolyzes alpha-1,4 and cannot
bypass alpha-1,6 linkages
Alpha-glucosidase An exoamylase which
preferentially hydrolyzes alpha-
1,4 linkages in a short chain
oligosaccharides
Amyloglucosidase An exoamylase which is
specialized in cleaving alpha-1,4
and slowly hydrolyzes alpha 1,6
linkages
Advantages (+)/ Disadvantages
(-)
+end product are
oligosaccharides with an alpha-
configuration, alpha-limit
dextrins branched
oligosaccharides and glucose
+found in wide variety of
microorganism
+cleaves glycosidic bonds
present in the inner part of the
amylose or amylopectic chains
found in starch
+acts on the external glucose
residues amylose or
amylopectin
-produces maltose not glucose
+produces glucose
-only acts on short
maltooligosaccharides
+produces glucose and
isomaltose
+works best to hydrolyze long
chain polysaccharides
+shows a synergitic effect with
alpha-amylase