ABSTRACT
Distilled alcoholic beverage was made from rice meal, wheat, sugar cane, grapes, and other fruits. The alcoholic drink was popular among the Kshatriya warriors and the peasant population. Although alcohol fermentation started for the production of alcoholic beverages, ethanol has been widely used in food, medicine, and the chemical industry as a scent, flavoring, and/or solvent. Bioethanol can be produced through biological processes from different natural materials: sugar-, starch-, and lignocellulose-based materials. Because of its high starch content, corn is a major source of carbohydrates in the food industry. Fractionation of corn into value added products by wet milling is an example of a biorefinery. Liquefaction is the process in which starch is converted to oligosaccharides and dextrins. Saccharification is the process in which oligosaccharides and dextrins are hydrolyzed into glucose. Pretreatment is necessary due to the unique structure of lignocellulosic materials.
