Dilute Acid Hydrolysis of Bagasse and Fermentation of the Hydrolysate to Produce Single Cell Protein

Both the cellulose and the hemicellulose components can theoretically be brokendownto produce a substratethat can be fermented by micro-organisms to produce SCPo Breakdown of the cellulose fraction produces a solution rich in glucose, whereas the hemicellulose portion provides predominantly a xylose solution. Xylose is a five carbon sugar which is generally fermented by a different group of microorganisms from those favouring glucose. It is far more difficult chemically (and hence more expensive) to extract the cellulose (Waugh 12) compared to the hemicellulose. Therefore in this project it was decided to concentrate on using BAGASSE