| Summary: | Researchers are currently interested in cell immobilization technology and have explored and investigated a variety of materials as immobilization support because it offers to retain high catalytic activity for sustainable production of bio-based energy and fine chemicals in response to global warming and climate change issues. The goal is to increase the cell density for more efficient substrate consumption during fermentation. Hence, this study aims to optimize the operating parameters for the delignification of meranti wood sawdust and to determine the adsorption of yeast cells on delignified meranti wood sawdust in a batch culture operation. To this end, pretreatment was first required to separate lignin and hemicellulose from the biomass. Three factors were assessed using sodium hydroxide as pretreatment solvent: alkali concentrations (1M and 3M), reaction times (4 and 6 hours), and temperatures (50 °C and 70 °C). The resulting delignified wood sawdust was then used to immobilize cells over the course of 24 hours in a series of batch operations. The immobilized cell characteristics were observed using optical density, scanning electron microscopy, and cell dry weight analysis. Results indicated that after the alkaline pretreatment on meranti wood sawdust, the percentage of lignin was reduced up to 90% by using 3M alkali concentration at 5 hours and 75 °C. The yeast was also found to be adsorbed for a maximum of 6 hours under optimal conditions. Collectively, the results highlight the critical role of delignified meranti wood sawdust as a renewable source of an immobilization carrier for sustainable biocatalysis. © 2023 Author(s).
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