- “Palm kernel press cake (PKC) is a residue from palm oil extraction presently only used as a low protein feed supplement.”1
- “PKC contains 50% fermentable hexose sugars present in the form of glucan and mainly galactomannan.”
- “This makes PKC an interesting feedstock for processing into bioethanol or in other biorefinery processes.”
Researchers from Forest and Landscape Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark; and from Novozymes A/S, Bagsværd, Denmark; have presented an article titled: “Production of Ethanol and Feed by High Dry Matter Hydrolysis and Fermentation of Palm Kernel Press Cake.”
The researchers from Frederiksberg, Denmark, and from Bagsværd, Denmark, have also noted:
- “Using a combination of mannanase, beta-mannosidase, and cellulases, it was possible without any pretreatment to hydrolyze PKC at solid concentrations of 35% dry matter with mannose yields up to 88% of theoretical.”
- “Fermentation was tested using Saccharomyces cerevisiae in both a separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) setup.”
- “The hydrolysates could readily be fermented without addition of nutrients and with average fermentation yields of 0.43 +/- 0.02 g/g based on consumed mannose and glucose.”
- “Employing SSF, final ethanol concentrations of 70 g/kg was achieved in 216 h, corresponding to an ethanol yield of 70% of theoretical or 200 g ethanol/kg PKC.”
- “Testing various enzyme mixtures revealed that including cellulases in combination with mannanases significantly improved ethanol yields.”
- “Processing PKC to ethanol resulted in a solid residue enriched in protein from 17% to 28%, a 70% increase, thereby potentially making a high-protein containing feed supplement.”
