Bioethanol production from Asphodelus aestivus

The increase on the price of fossil fuels and the need to protect the environment from greenhouse gases urge the investigation of the possibility of using biofuels to replace them. Cyprus is faced with severe water shortage and unavailability of agricultural land that limit the cultivation of energy crops that supply the feedstock for biofuel production. A possibility would be to use Asphodelus aestivus L. that is encountered in Cyprus and other Mediterranean countries, growing wild in pastures. Its tubers contain starch that was measured to be 10.1%. The bioethanol is produced by fermentation of the mash produced by crashing the tubers of the plant. The first stage of the process was cooking the mash at a temperature of 95°C, combined by liquefaction and saccharification of the starch using enzymes, like alpha-amylase and glucoamylase. The process was followed by fermentation of the mash for three days and finally distillation of bioethanol. The alcohol yield per kilogram tubers was 49.52ml/kg, compared to the theoretical value of 83.72ml/kg, mainly due to the incomplete fermentation of the sugars. The plant seems to be a potential energy plant for bioethanol production in arid regions cultivated on degraded land.