PRODUCCIÓN DE AZÚCARES FERMENTABLES VÍA FOTOSÍNTESIS, PARA LA PRODUCCIÓN DE BIOETANOL

Abstract

At present, obtaining sustainable fuels such as biodiesel and bioethanol from cheap and renewable materials is a challenge. In recent years, a new approach to development is the production of sugars via photosynthesis from algae. You can increase the production of sugars by subjecting algae to osmotic stress (osmoregulation). The aim of this study is to demonstrate the production of sugars from algae, isolated from natural sources, as well as the effect of osmotic stress on the accumulation of fermentable sugars. We describe the isolation of each of the strains, the production of sugar each, and the effect of osmotic stress on growth and production of sugars. Twelve strains were isolated from microalgae, with biomass production between 0.6 and 1.8 g dry biomass/L, all strains produced intracellular and extracellular sugars. The strain identified as Chlorella sp. showed an increase in the production of sugars from 23.64 to 421 mg sugar/g of dry biomass at 24 h of osmotic stress with 0.4M NaCl. Osmolytes produced for this strain were sucrose, glycerol and trehalose, the latter being the first reported in the literature. The production of the osmolytes was performed in the first 12h after osmotic shock and after that osmolytes are released to the environment. Ethanol was found in the medium after osmotic shock, which may be due to fermentative activity of alternative pathways in algae, which could be manipulated to directly produce ethanol