Solid-state fermentation as a process for biofuel production: a focus on ethanol and beyond
Fermentación en estado sólido como proceso para la producción de biocombustibles: un enfoque en el etanol y más allá
Autor(es): Raziel Jesús Martínez-Estrada
Fuente: Mexican Journal of Technology and Engineering, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp, 53-67
DOI: https://doi.org/10.61767/mjte.005.2.5367
Abstract
Solid-state fermentation (SSF) is an emerging bioprocess in which microorganisms grow on solid substrates in the near-absence of free water, closely mimicking their natural ecological habitats. In the context of growing global energy demand and the urgency to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, SSF has gained considerable attention as a cost-effective and environmentally friendly technology for biofuel production. This review addresses the use of SSF for the production of second-generation biofuels, with a primary focus on bioethanol, and explores its potential for the generation of other liquid and gaseous biofuels such as biobutanol, biogas, and biohydrogen. Special attention is given to the use of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) as a feedstock, given its worldwide abundance, low cost, and high carbohydrate content. The review covers the fundamentals of SSF, relevant substrates and pretreatment strategies, fermentative microorganisms, bioreactor configurations, process kinetics, and scale-up considerations.
Keywords: Solid-state fermentation; Bioethanol; Biofuels; Organic fraction of municipal solid waste; Lignocellulosic biomass; Bioreactor.
Resumen
La fermentación en estado sólido (FES) es un bioproceso emergente en el cual los microorganismos crecen sobre sustratos sólidos en ausencia casi total de agua libre, imitando de manera cercana sus hábitats ecológicos naturales. En el contexto de una creciente demanda energética global y la urgencia de reducir la dependencia de los combustibles fósiles, la FES ha ganado considerable atención como una tecnología rentable y ambientalmente amigable para la producción de biocombustibles. Esta revisión aborda el uso de la FES para la producción de biocombustibles de segunda generación, con un enfoque principal en el bioetanol, y explora su potencial para la generación de otros biocombustibles líquidos y gaseosos, como el biobutanol, el biogás y el biohidrógeno. Se presta especial atención al uso de la fracción orgánica de los residuos sólidos urbanos (FORSU) como materia prima, dada su abundancia a nivel mundial, su bajo costo y su alto contenido de carbohidratos. La revisión abarca los fundamentos de la FES, los sustratos relevantes y las estrategias de pretratamiento, los microorganismos fermentativos, las configuraciones de biorreactores, la cinética del proceso y las consideraciones para su escalamiento.
Palabras clave: Fermentación en estado sólido; Bioetanol; Biocombustibles; Fracción orgánica de residuos sólidos urbanos; Biomasa lignocelulósica; Biorreactor.
Referencias
Artola, A., Font, X., Moral-Vico, J., & Sánchez, A. (2024). The role of solid-state fermentation to transform existing waste treatment plants based on composting and anaerobic digestion into modern organic waste-based biorefineries, in the framework of circular bioeconomy. Frontiers in Chemical Engineering, 6, 1463785. https://doi.org/10.3389/fceng.2024.1463785
Bader, J., Mast-Gerlach, E., & Stahl, U. (2010). Relevance of microbial coculture fermentations in biotechnology. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 109(2), 371–387. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2672.2009.04659.x
Ballesteros, I., Negro, M. J., Oliva, J. M., Cabañas, A., Manzanares, P., & Ballesteros, M. (2006). Ethanol production from steam-explosion pretreated wheat straw. Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, 130(1), 496–508. https://doi.org/10.1385/ABAB:130:1:496
Barrios-Nolasco, A., Castillo-Araiza, C. O., Huerta-Ochoa, S., Reyes-Arreozola, M. I., Buenrostro-Figueroa, J. J., & Prado-Barragán, L. A. (2024). Evaluating the performance of Yarrowia lipolytica 2.2ab in solid-state fermentation under bench-scale conditions in a packed-tray bioreactor. Fermentation, 10(7), 344. https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation10070344
Boluda-Aguilar, M., & López-Gómez, A. (2013). Production of bioethanol by fermentation of lemon (Citrus limon L.) peel wastes pretreated with steam explosion. Industrial Crops and Products, 41, 188–197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2012.04.031
Casciatori, F. P., & Thoméo, J. C. (2018). Heat transfer in packed-beds of agricultural waste with low rates of air flow applicable to solid-state fermentation. Chemical Engineering Science, 188, 97–111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ces.2018.05.024
Chen, H.-Z., Liu, Z.-H., & Dai, S.-H. (2014). A novel solid state fermentation coupled with gas stripping enhancing the sweet sorghum stalk conversion performance for bioethanol. Biotechnology for Biofuels, 7(1), 53. https://doi.org/10.1186/1754-6834-7-53
Converti, A., Del Borghi, M., & Ferraiolo, G. (1989). Influence of pH on the kinetics of ethanol fermentation. Chemical Engineering Journal, 41(3), B45–B49.
Couder-García, M., Prado-Barragán, L., Huerta-Ochoa, S., & Castillo-Araiza, C. (2024). Assessing the Impact of Transport Phenomena on Modeling and Optimization of Solid-State Fermentation for the Revalorization of Agro-Industrial Residues in a Wall‐Cooled Packed‐Bed Bioreactor. Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 210, 365–381. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cherd.2024.08.031
Cuervo, L., Folch, J. L., & Quiroz, R. E. (2009). Lignocelulosa como fuente de azúcares para la producción de etanol. BioTecnología, 13(3), 11–25.
da Costa, J. A., Marques, J. E., Jr., Gonçalves, L. R. B., & Rocha, M. V. P. (2015). Enhanced enzymatic hydrolysis and ethanol production from cashew apple bagasse pretreated with alkaline hydrogen peroxide. Bioresource Technology, 179, 249–259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2014.11.010
Demirbas, A. (2005). Bioethanol from cellulosic materials: A renewable motor fuel from biomass. Energy Sources, 27(4), 327–337. https://doi.org/10.1080/00908310390266643
Eloka-Eboka, A. C., Maroa, S. S., & Taiwo, A. E. (2023). Biobutanol from agricultural and municipal solid wastes, techno-economic, and lifecycle analysis. En J. G. Segovia-Hernández, S. Behera, & E. Sánchez-Ramírez (Eds.), Advances and Developments in Biobutanol Production (pp. 171–198). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-91178-8.00006-0
Estrada-Martínez, R., Favela-Torres, E., Soto-Cruz, N. O., Escalona-Buendía, H. B., & Saucedo-Castañeda, G. (2019). A mild thermal pre-treatment of the organic fraction of municipal wastes allows high ethanol production by direct solid-state fermentation. Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering, 24(3), 453–464. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12257-019-0032-7
Estrada-Martínez, R. J., Favela-Torres, E., Soto-Cruz, N. O., Saucedo-Castañeda, G., & Martínez-Valdez, F. J. (2023). Respiro-fermentative metabolism in yeast cultivated in solid-state culture: The Crabtree effect and ethanol production. Revista Mexicana de Ingeniería Química, 22(1), Bio3025. https://doi.org/10.24275/rmiq/Bio3025
Feng, X., Wang, L., & Chen, H. (2022). Coproduction and enhancement of electricity and biobutanol using adsorption carrier solid-state fermentation. Biotechnology for Biofuels, 15(1), 42. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13068-022-02138-6
Fockink, D. H., Sánchez, J. H., & Ramos, L. P. (2018). Comprehensive analysis of sugarcane bagasse steam explosion using autocatalysis and dilute acid hydrolysis (H₃PO₄ and H₂SO₄) at equivalent combined severity factors. Industrial Crops and Products, 123, 563–572. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2018.07.017
Gupte, A. P., Di Vita, N., Myburgh, M. W., Cripwell, R. A., Basaglia, M., van Zyl, W. H., Viljoen-Bloom, M., Casella, S., & Favaro, L. (2024). Consolidated bioprocessing of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste into bioethanol. Energy Conversion and Management, 302, 118105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2024.118105
Gupta, A., & Verma, J. P. (2015). Sustainable bio-ethanol production from agro-residues: A review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 41, 550–567. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2014.08.032
Hagman, A., & Piškur, J. (2015). A study on the fundamental mechanism and the evolutionary driving forces behind aerobic fermentation in yeast. PLOS ONE, 10(1), e0116942. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0116942
Hölker, U., Höfer, M., & Lenz, J. (2004). Biotechnological advantages of laboratory-scale solid-state fermentation with fungi. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 64(2), 175–186. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-003-1504-3
IEA (2004), Biofuels for Transport An International Perspective, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/reports/biofuels-for-transport-an-international-perspective, Licence: CC BY 4.0
Kumar, P., Barrett, D. M., Delwiche, M. J., & Stroeve, P. (2009). Methods for pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass for efficient hydrolysis and biofuel production. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 48(8), 3713–3729. https://doi.org/10.1021/ie801542g
Kuhad, R. C., Gupta, R., & Singh, A. (2011). Microbial cellulases and their industrial applications. Enzyme Research, 2011, 280696. https://doi.org/10.4061/2011/280696
Liu, Z. H., Qin, L., Pang, F., Jin, M. J., Li, B. Z., Kang, Y., Dale, B. E., & Yuan, Y. J. (2013). Effects of biomass particle size on steam explosion pretreatment performance for improving the enzyme digestibility of corn stover. Industrial Crops and Products, 44, 176–184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2012.11.009
Meena, P. K., Kumar, D., Sharma, S., Didwania, M., & Singh, L. (2025). Advancing sustainable energy: Biohydrogen, biogas, and biohythane production from waste materials through life cycle analysis. Biofuels, 16(7), 789–805. https://doi.org/10.1080/17597269.2025.2455813
Méndez-González, F., Buenrostro-Figueroa, J. J., & Favela-Torres, E. (2024). Solid-State Culture Spore Production of Entomopathogenic Fungi. In S. K. Deshmukh & Sridhar Kandikere (Eds.), The Role of Entomopathogenic Fungi in Agriculture (1st ed., pp. 321–341). CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003505228-15
Méndez-González, F., Loera, O., Saucedo-Castañeda, G., Buenrostro-Figueroa, J. J., & Favela-Torres, E. (2025). Improved packed bed column bioreactor to produce fungal conidia for biological control. Systems Microbiology and Biomanufacturing, 5(2), 783–794. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43393-024-00308-1
Méndez-González, F., Loera-Corral, O., Saucedo-Castañeda, G., Bibián-León, M. E., Buenrostro-Figueroa, J. J., & Favela-Torres, E. (2026). Bioreactors to produce fungal biological control agents by solid-state fermentation. In A. Pandey, C. Larroche, C. Soccol, & R. Singhania (Eds.), Current Advances in Solid-State Fermentation (2nd ed., pp. 147–177). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-27624-8.00019-1
Mosquera-Toscano, H. G., González-Barceló, O., Valdez-Vazquez, I., et al. (2024). Ethanol and methane production from the organic fraction of municipal solid waste in a two-stage process. BioEnergy Research, 17, 634–645. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-023-10610-w
Molaverdi, M., Karimi, K., Khanahmadi, M., & Goshadrou, A. (2013). Enhanced sweet sorghum stalk to ethanol by fungus Mucor indicus using solid state fermentation followed by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation. Industrial Crops and Products, 49, 580–585. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2013.06.024
Narra, M., James, J. P., & Balasubramanian, V. (2015). Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of delignified lignocellulosic biomass at high solid loadings by a newly isolated thermotolerant Kluyveromyces sp. for ethanol production. Bioresource Technology, 179, 331–338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2014.11.116
Nawaz, S., et al. (2024). Sustainable bioethanol production by solid-state fermentation: A systematic review. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 32, 13140–13158. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-35406-z
Pandey, A. (1991). Aspects of fermenter design for solid-state fermentations. Process Biochemistry, 26(6), 355–361. https://doi.org/10.1016/0032-9592(91)85026-K
Perwez, M., & Al Asheh, S. (2025). Valorization of agro-industrial waste through solid-state fermentation: Mini review. Biotechnology Reports, e00873. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.btre.2024.e00873
Pronk, J. T., Steensma, H. Y., & Van Dijken, J. P. (1996). Pyruvate metabolism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Yeast, 12(16), 1607–1633. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0061(199612)12:16%3C1607::AID-YEA70%3E3.0.CO;2-4
Rozpędowska, E., Hellborg, L., Ishchuk, O. P., Orhan, F., Galafassi, S., Merico, A., Woolfit, M., Compagno, C., & Piškur, J. (2011). Parallel evolution of the make-accumulate-consume strategy in Saccharomyces and Dekkera yeasts. Nature Communications, 2, 302. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms1305
Rubin, E. M. (2008). Genomics of cellulosic biofuels. Nature, 454, 841–845. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07190
Saini, J. K., Saini, R., & Tewari, L. (2015). Lignocellulosic agriculture wastes as biomass feedstocks for second-generation bioethanol production: Concepts and recent developments. 3 Biotech, 5(4), 337–353. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-014-0246-5
Saucedo-Castañeda, G., Lonsane, B. K., Krishnaiah, M. M., Navarro, J. M., Roussos, S., & Raimbault, M. (1992). Maintenance of heat and water balances as a scale-up criterion for the production of ethanol by Schwanniomyces castellii in a solid state fermentation system. Process Biochemistry, 27(2), 97–107. https://doi.org/10.1016/0032-9592(92)80016-V
Soccol, C. R., Ferreira da Costa, E. S., Letti, L. A. J., Karp, S. G., Woiciechowski, A. L., & Vandenberghe, L. P. S. (2017). Recent developments and innovations in solid state fermentation. Biotechnology Research and Innovation, 1(1), 52–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biori.2017.01.002
Tang, Y.-Q., Koike, Y., Liu, K., An, M.-Z., Morimura, S., Wu, X.-L., & Kida, K. (2008). Ethanol production from kitchen waste using the flocculating yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain KF-7. Biomass and Bioenergy, 32(11), 1037–1045. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2008.01.027
Uçkun Kiran, E., Trzcinski, A. P., Ng, W. J., & Liu, Y. (2014). Bioconversion of food waste to energy: A review. Fuel, 134, 389–399. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2014.05.074
Uncu, O. N., & Cekmecelioglu, D. (2011). Cost-effective approach to ethanol production and optimization by response surface methodology. Waste Management, 31(4), 636–643. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2010.12.007
Viniegra-González, G. (1997). Solid state fermentation: Definition, characteristics, limitations and monitoring. In A. Pandey (Ed.), Solid state fermentation. Wiley Eastern Ltd.