Quality of Bioethanol Produced from Concentrated Fruit Waste Juice Augmented with Sorghum as Additional Fermentable Sugar

Abstract

Bioethanol is a vital biofuel due to its significant environmental and economic benefits. The cost-effective production of this product is largely determined by the selection of raw materials and the production technologies. The study focuses on bioethanol generation from concentrated juice extracted from fruit wastes of pineapple, mango, pawpaw, and watermelon through anaerobic fermentation and controlled distillation. Physical pre-treatments improved juice extraction from fruit wastes, which were fermented with 600 gm of sorghum and distilled to produce bioethanol. Results show that bioethanol from pineapple waste juice had the highest ethanol content of 36%, followed by mango, pawpaw, and watermelon wastes at 20%, 15%, and 6%, respectively, for the initial aliquot of 100 mL. The initial aliquot of 100 mL of fruit waste juice contained 25% ethanol, the second highest value after pineapple. Bioethanol obtained from the initial distillation was subjected to re-distillation for quality improvement. Re-distillation significantly improved the quality of bioethanol, increasing its ethanol content from 6—36% to 89%. The study aimed to produce biofuel in the form of bioethanol using fruit wastes as a primary feedstock. By utilizing commonly discarded FWs, the research sought to create an efficient and sustainable method of bioethanol production. This approach not only addresses waste management issues but also explores the potential of fruit waste as a low-cost, renewable resource for biofuel, contributing to both environmental sustainability and energy security.