Ethanol production from rice straw using simultaneous saccharification
and fermentation (SSF) was presented in comparison with its variation, semi-SSF (sSSF)
in order to explore any potential improvement in ethanol production and conversion of
cellulosic sugars. Neither significant differences in term of ethanol concentration nor
improvement in overall productivity when using sSSF and SSF were observed in this study.
Similar ethanol concentration of approximately 12 g/L was obtained in all cases using
Candida shehatae ATCC 22984, Saccharomyces cerevisiae TISTR 5339 and co-cultivation of both
strains, although lower productivity was evident when using C. shehatae. Furthermore, sequential
fermentation of C. shehatae followed by S. cerevisiae with added cellulase had demonstrated
its potential application in fermentation that fully converted xylose and glucose into ethanol.