Production of Bioethanol from Elephant Grass Leaves (Pennisetum purpureum) by Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation (SSF) Method Using Clostridium acetobutylicum

Elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) is a plant that is easy to grow in Indonesia and contains cellulose. Cellulose is one of the raw materials for bioethanol which is converted through a fermentation process. This study aims to find the potential of elephant grass leaves as a bioethanol-forming material by knowing the cellulose content of elephant grass leaves before and after delignification using NaOH 3% and H2O2 3%, as well as knowing the best fermentation time and pH to produce the highest concentration of bioethanol using Clostridium acetobutylicum bacteria. In this study, variations in fermentation time were 6, 8, 10 and 12 days, and variations in pH were 5.0; 5.5; 6.0; 6.5; and 7.0. The results of this study, the cellulose content of elephant grass leaves was 37.82% and after delignification, it became 70.24%. The best time and pH of bioethanol fermentation with C. acetobutylicum bacteria was for 8 days at pH 6.5 to produce a bioethanol concentration of 15.25%. Based on this research, elephant grass leaves have the potential as raw material for bioethanol production.