Extraction and Characterization of Ethanol Obtained from Potato in Tepi Town Local Market

Potato crop is mainly comprises two bodies one which is found above the ground known to be the plant and the other which is found in the underground stems (or stolons) known as the tuber This student project aims at utilizing potato for the production of ethanol by using the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, thus, producing a valuable product from potato. Potatoes were crushed for easy drying and grinding. Sample drying was carried out in oven (250 o C for 24 hr) to obtain easily crushable material. After drying, each of the samples was milled separately. The maximum particle sizes of the ground mixed sample were 2 mm. The mill samples of different gram from each sample were taken and then passed through fermentation and distillation process to produce ethanol. The effects of potato concentration and time were investigated. From the study, effective amounts of ethanol were obtained from each classes of potato. For concentration 2, 4, 6 & 8 g of samples were used and the result obtained were 23, 27, 32 & 35 ml for red potato & 25, 28, 35, 39 ml for white. Among these 8 g of potato gave highest yield for both. For incubation period 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 days with the same amount of 4 g of potato sample the result obtained were 33.4, 45, 35, 35, 36, & 35 ml for white potato & 35.3, 45, 37, 35, 36 & 35 ml for red potato. Among these highest result obtained in 2 days for both potato. So it is advisable to use, 2 days for incubation period to get effective amount of ethanol.

Keywords: Potato, Ethanol, Yeast, Simple distillation, Fermentation.