ca-alginate spheres behavior in presence of some solvents and water-solvent mixturesca-alginate球体行为存在一些溶剂和water-solvent混合物.pdfVIP

Advances in Bioscience and Biotechnology, 2011, 2, 8-12 ABB doi:10.4236/abb.2011.21002 Published Online February 2011 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/abb/). Ca-alginate spheres behavior in presence of some solvents and water-solvent mixtures Luis G. Torres, Angelica Velasquez, Marco A. Brito-Arias Unidad Profesional Interdisciplinaria de Biotecnología. Instituto Politecnico Nacional. Av. Acueducto s/n. Colonia Barrio la Laguna Ticoman; delegacion Gustavo A. Madero 07340 D. F., Mexico. Email: LTorresB@ipn.mx Received 25 June 2010; revised 5 July 2010; accepted 12 July 2011. ABSTRACT Ethanol is a valuable alternative to petroleum-based transportation fuels. The traditional ethanol manufac- Immobilization systems more frequently used are ture was using sugar and yeast, though there are many calcium alginate spheres. These biocatalysts have other alternatives such as using wheat, barley, sorghum, many potential applications in the immobilization of beets, cheese whey, potatoes, and many other feed- enzymes, prokaryotic cells, vegetal and animal cells, stocks [2]. Over 90% of the ethanol produced in USA is algae, organelles and mixtures of these living compo- made of corn. In opposite, in Brazil—the world’s larg- nents. Other applications of immobilized cells imply est producer—most ethanol is made from sugar cane. the use of non aqueous systems. Some bioconversions Other sugar sources for ethanol production are cellu- are carried out in the presence of solvents such as losic feedstocks,