Producción de etanol a partir de cebada no malteada hidrolizada con α y β amilasas comerciales

Objective. To find the optimum concentration of commercial α- and β-amylase for the obtainment of ethanol from unmalted barley. Materials and methods. Unmalted barley was hydrolyzed using various concentrations of commercial α- and β-amylase (Genencor International), following conditions established by the manufacturer. The products of hydrolysis were used as substrates for the production of ethanol by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In addition, a reference assay was performed using malted barley following the conditions established by the distillery. Results. The percentage of starch hydrolysis was 89.4% when adding α-and β-amylase at a concentration of 1 g L^-1. Moreover, this concentration of amylases yielded a maximum ethanol production (5.02 %) significantly higher than when malted barley was used (3.76 %). Conclusions. It was demonstrated that ethanol can be obtained from starch of unmalted barley by adding commercial α- and β-amylase. However, optimization of the process is required due to the higher costs when compared to the traditional process with malted barley.