Active CRIS Projects:

3655-41000-003-03S Richard Koegel

INCREASING EFFICIENCY IN THE PRODUCTION OF CHEMICAL FEEDSTOCKS FROM ALFALFA FIBER

Objectives: To improve yields and reduce costs for the production of chemical feedstocks, especially lactic acid from alfalfa fiber resulting from wet fractionation.

Approach: Since the cost of enzymes for the saccharification step represents the greatest single production cost, this project will emphasize reduction of enzyme cost. In particular, enzymes will be produced by selected microorganisms grown on solid substrate consisting of blends of agricultural by-products. Mixtures of these enzymes will be evaluated for the efficacy in converting lignocellulosics to fermentable sugars.