Studies on Alcohol Fermentation Features of a High-yield Saccharomyces cerevisiae Using Sugarcane Molasses as Feedstock

The alcohol fermentation features of a high-alcohol-yield Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain MF001 was investigated using sugarcane molasses as feedstock.The results showed that 20°Bx sugarcane molasses did not defect the cell growth and fermentation of the strain,the optimum temperature for fermentation by strain MF001 was 30℃ and the alcohol fermentation at pH4.0 was better than that at pH3.8.Successive subcultures(16 times)and inoculation amount had a minor influence on the strain's alcohol fermentation.By using the industrial process of alcohol fermentation from sugarcane molasses,i.e.,the strain was grown in medium of 20°Bx sugarcane molasses first for preparing the seed culture,followed by mixing the seed culture with medium of 55°Bx sugarcane molasses at 1∶1 ratio to proceed fermentation,the alcohol concentration reached 13.2%(V/V),13.8%(V/V)and 14.3%(V/V)after 50,60 and 72h of fermentation,respectively.The residual fermentable sugar was low to 0.44% at the end of fermentation(72h).The conversion efficiency was 88.6%(50h),94.3%(60h)and 98.6%(72h)of the theoretical alcohol yield.These results implied that it was potential for enhancing significantly the alcohol concentration of fermentation with sugarcane molasses as feedstock by using MF1001 in industry.