Abstract

The present study describes the ethanol fermentation from sugarcane molasses by locally isolated yeast strain. Ten yeast strains were isolated from soil and cultured in 15% molassess medium. Saccharomyces cerevisiae Bio-07 gave maximum productivity (52.0g/L). Fermentation conditions were optimized for maximum production of ethanol. Maximum yield of ethanol (76.8 g/L) was obtained with 15% molasses concentration, 3% inoculum size, pH 4.5 and temperature 30 º C. Potassium Ferrocyanide (150ppm) was used to control the trace metals present in the molasses medium.