BIOETHANOL FERMENTATION FROM VERY HIGH GRAVITY NYPA SAP IN BATCH FERMENTATION WITH THE ADDITION OF Cordyceps mycelium POWDER AND UREA

A vast population of nypa palm ( Nypa fruticans ) found in abundance in mangrove forests along the eastern coastline of Sumatera island in Indonesia. Riau has enough land for overgrown by nypa palm. It has been reported that nypa palm is capable of producing up to 15.600 litres of ethanol per hectare, more than twice the yield of sugar cane and six time the yield of corn. Nypa palm generally grow in swampy areas that cause nypa sap collection from intercepts location to the processing location is quite heavy. This can lead to unwanted contamination and degradation of the nypa sap quality (i.e. glucose concentration). The very high gravity (VHG) fermentation offers several advantages for industrial applications to increase in both the ethanol concentration and the rate of fermentation which reduce capital costs, energy costs per litre of alcohol and reduce the risk of bacterial contamination. However, it may have a negative effect upon the yeast performance due to the elevated osmotic pressure and the production of high content of ethanol. Increasing alcohol content can cause cell membrane walls were largely composed of lipid damage. Saccharomyces cerevi ce ae cells also requires a source of nitrogen to aid in cell growth, cell maintenance, improving cell performance in producing ethanol and assist in the formation of nucleic acids and amino acids. The research is implemented to see the effect of combined treatment of Cordyceps mycelium powder contain ergosterol and urea with bioethanol fermentation from very high gravity nypa sap in batch fermentation. The research implemented in an experimental method with two factors. The first factor is the levels of the source N as urea consist of four levels namely (U) (0.0; 0.2; 0.4; 0.6) gr/l and the second factor is the levels of the Cordyceps mycelium powder consist of three levels namely (C) (0.0; 0.5; 1.0) gr/l, so that obtained twelve combination of treatments without repetition and Tween 80™ added 0,2% from the amount of fermentation media used  in all treatments to overcome the unwanted effect by lowering the surface tension and osmotic pressure of the medium. Cordyceps mycelium contain ergosterol and urea supplementation seemed successful to overcome the cells undergoing lysis and could aid in cell growth, cell maintenance, improving cell performance in producing ethanol and assist in the formation of nucleic acids and amino acids. The best combination treatment was U4C2 (urea 0.6 gr/l and Cordyceps mycelium powder 0.5 gr/l) which produced ethanol 31.5%.