Ethanol production by co-cultures of A. niger (GS4) and S. cerevisiae (BK6) was studied using cassava starch as substrate. At 1% substrate concentration ethanol yield was 0.35g/100ml while the ethanol concentration increased to a maximum of 3.60g/100ml at 8% substrate concentration. When the culture conditions were optimized, the ethanol yield further increased to 4.30g/100ml at a temperature of 35oC, pH 5.0, 300rpm agitation rate and reduced fermentation period of 4 days.
A. niger, S. cerevisiae, Fermentation, Ethanol, Cell dry weight, Residual sugar
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