Abstract

Biochemical conversion of lingo cellulosic biomass to ethanol provides a sustainable energy production system. Ragi straw is a fast growing domestic feedstock for Bio-ethanol production. In the present study ragi straw (Eleusine coracana L) was supplemented with different nitrogen Source prior to enzymatic hydrolysis by Bacillus pumilus isolated from marine sources process to produce fermentable sugars using different concentrations of the nitrogen source in the range of 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5 % and 2.0%.The presence of nitrogen sources had an impact on the growth of the organism and supported enzymatic hydrolysis to degrade complex sugars to simple sugars, which could be further used for Bio-ethanol production. Ammonium nitrate proved to be the best nitrogen source at 0.5% concentration to support enzymatic hydrolysis of ragi straw which could be utilized for ethanol production as ragi straw is abundantly available.

Key words: Nitrogen Source, Ragi straw, Bioethanol, lignocelluloses.