Ethanol and high-value terpene co-production from Lignocellulosic biomass of Cymbopogon flexuosus and Cymbopogon martinii

Blake L. Joyce; Valtcho D. Zheljazkov; Robert Sykes; Charles L. Cantrell; Choo Hamilton; David G.J. Mann; Miguel Rodriguez; Jonathan R. Mielenz; Tess Astatkie; C. Neal Stewart

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0139195

Ethanol and high-value terpene co-production from Lignocellulosic biomass of Cymbopogon flexuosus and Cymbopogon martinii

Blake L. Joyce, Valtcho D. Zheljazkov, Robert Sykes, Charles L. Cantrell, Choo Hamilton, David G.J. Mann, Miguel Rodriguez, Jonathan R. Mielenz, Tess Astatkie, C. Neal Stewart

Biomaterials and Biomass Characterizatio

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

Cymbopogon flexuosus, lemongrass, and C. martinii, palmarosa, are perennial grasses grown to produce essential oils for the fragrance industry. The objectives of this study were (1) to evaluate biomass and oil yields as a function of nitrogen and sulfur fertilization, and (2) to characterize their utility for lignocellulosic ethanol compared to Panicum virgatum (switchgrass). Mean biomass yields were 12.83 Mg lemongrass ha-1 and 15.11 Mg palmarosa ha-1 during the second harvest year resulting in theoretical biofuel yields of 2541 and 2569 L ethanol ha-1 respectively compared to reported 1749-3691 L ethanol ha-1 for switchgrass. Pretreated lemongrass yielded 198 mL ethanol (g biomass)-1 and pretreated palmarosa yielded 170 mL ethanol (g biomass)-1. Additionally, lemongrass yielded 85.7 kg essential oil ha-1 and palmarosa yielded 67.0 kg ha-1 with an estimated value of USD 857 and 1005 ha-1. These data suggest that dual-use crops such as lemongrass and palmarosa may increase the economic viability of lignocellulosic biofuels.

Original language	English
Article number	e0139195
Journal	PLoS ONE
Volume	10
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0139195
State	Published - Oct 5 2015

Funding

The BioEnergy Science Center is a U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Research Center supported by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research in the DOE Office of Science. We thank them for funding. This work was supported partly by grant (DE-PS02-06ER64304) from the Bioenergy Science Center (BESC), Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The field research was funded in part by ARS Specific Crop Agreement 58-6402-026 with Mississippi State University. Specific project: “Field establishment of medicinal herbs and potential for commercial production” awarded to Dr. V.D. Jeliazkov (Zheljazkov). We thank Thomas Horgan, S. Marie Rogers, and Amber Reichley for excellent help with experiments and analysis.

Funders	Funder number
BESC
BioEnergy Science Center
U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Research Center
Office of Science	DE-PS02-06ER64304
Office of Science
Biological and Environmental Research
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Mississippi State University
Agricultural Research Service	58-6402-026
Agricultural Research Service

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title = "Ethanol and high-value terpene co-production from Lignocellulosic biomass of Cymbopogon flexuosus and Cymbopogon martinii",

abstract = "Cymbopogon flexuosus, lemongrass, and C. martinii, palmarosa, are perennial grasses grown to produce essential oils for the fragrance industry. The objectives of this study were (1) to evaluate biomass and oil yields as a function of nitrogen and sulfur fertilization, and (2) to characterize their utility for lignocellulosic ethanol compared to Panicum virgatum (switchgrass). Mean biomass yields were 12.83 Mg lemongrass ha-1 and 15.11 Mg palmarosa ha-1 during the second harvest year resulting in theoretical biofuel yields of 2541 and 2569 L ethanol ha-1 respectively compared to reported 1749-3691 L ethanol ha-1 for switchgrass. Pretreated lemongrass yielded 198 mL ethanol (g biomass)-1 and pretreated palmarosa yielded 170 mL ethanol (g biomass)-1. Additionally, lemongrass yielded 85.7 kg essential oil ha-1 and palmarosa yielded 67.0 kg ha-1 with an estimated value of USD 857 and 1005 ha-1. These data suggest that dual-use crops such as lemongrass and palmarosa may increase the economic viability of lignocellulosic biofuels.",

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Ethanol and high-value terpene co-production from Lignocellulosic biomass of Cymbopogon flexuosus and Cymbopogon martinii

Abstract

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