Enhancement of hydrolysis with Trichoderma harzianum for bioethanol production of sonicated pineapple fruit peel

Being globally in-demand fruit, pineapple (Ananas comosus) generates a significant amount of wastes, specifically pineapple peels, from agro-industrial sectors. Waste valorization, such as bioethanol production from pineapple peels, was done due to its important characteristics as a feedstock for the production of ethanol. Conversely, in this kind of feedstock, pretreatment procedure is essential to allow the access of enzymes in the cellulose of the sample during hydrolysis. Recently, the use of Trichoderma harzianum in the production of bioethanol from lignocellulosic materials has been increased attention due to its diverse production of hydrolytic and cellulolytic enzymes. However, the application of this fungus in sonicated pineapple peel is not yet been investigated. In this study, the effect of T. harzianum in sonicated pineapple fruit peel was evaluated. The results revealed that the optimum condition for pineapple peel for higher production of fermentable sugar was under 30 mins sonication time hydrolyzed with T. harzianum with 567.6 +/- 58.4 g/L of RS. After 48 h of fermentation, the bioethanol yield was recorded as 197.6 +/- 9.9 g/L (25.0% v/v) with energy productivity of 126.9 MJ/hr. Valorization of these non-treated wastes could be greater biomass for future bioethanol production.