Chapter 2 revised.pages

Conversion of Glucose to Ethanol In the U.S., corn is the predominant source of starch (glucose) used to produce ethanol. With the exception of sugar cane, corn provides the highest ethanol yields compared to any other feedstock being used (Table 2). However, research is underway to develop methods to convert carbohydrates from cellulosic feedstocks such as softwood (Arwa et al., 2005), non-starch polysaccharides (Arthur, 2006), as well as using sugar beets (Savvides et al., 2000) to glucose for use in producing ethanol. The nutrient composition of the feedstock used to produce ethanol determines the nutrient profile of the distiller’s co-products produced.