Kunasundari Balakrishnan
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Kunasundari Balakrishnan
Official Name
Balakrishnan, Kunasundari
Alternative Name
Balakrishnan, K.
Kunasundari, B.
Kunasundari, Balakrishnan
Main Affiliation
Scopus Author ID
37861493500
Researcher ID
DBC-0761-2022

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  • Publication
    Structural and composition modification of Harum Manis mango (Mangifera indica) leaves via chemical pretreatment for bioethanol production
    (Springer, 2023)
    Mahadevan Tarrsini
    ;
    Ng Qi Hwa
    ;
    Yi Peng Teoh
    ;
    Siew Hoong Shuit
    ;
    Zhong Xian Ooi
    ;
    Kunasundari Balakrishnan
    Harum Manis mango leaves are considered lignocellulosic (LC) biomass that could contribute to the production of second generation (2G) bioethanol. However, pretreatment should be conducted to overcome the recalcitrance of LC biomass prior to bioethanol production. Hence, this study aims to elucidate the structural changes of the biomass of Harum Manis mango leaves after single-stage and two-stage chemical pretreatment. The Harum Manis mango leaves were treated with only acid, only alkaline, acid-alkaline, or alkaline-acid process. One per cent (v/v) sulphuric acid and 1% (w/v) sodium hydroxide were used as the acid and alkaline hydrolysing agent in the four approaches of pretreatment, respectively. Consequently, the pretreated biomass was enzymatically hydrolysed to produce reducing sugar followed by the conversion into bioethanol through yeast fermentation. Acid-alkaline pretreatment yielded the highest holocellulose composition of 95.26%, with the highest delignification effect of 86.97 ± 1.26%. Furthermore, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) validated the acid-alkaline pretreated biomass to be the most feasible substrate for bioethanol production in this study. Finally, the maximum fermentable sugar content and bioethanol concentration of 415.02 ± 7.01 mg/g and 1.57 ± 0.06 mg/ml, respectively, were obtained.
  • Publication
    Screening of process parameters to produce Xylanase from Aspergillus niger for secondary bioethanol production
    (IOP Publishing, 2020)
    M Tarrsini
    ;
    Ng Qi Hwa
    ;
    Y P Teoh
    ;
    Kunasundari Balakrishnan
    ;
    W U Ang
    ;
    S H Shuit
    ;
    Z X Ooi
    ;
    Hoo Peng Yong
    In recent years, the biotechnological use of xylanases has grown remarkably. Xylanase is a hydrolytic enzyme with a broad industrial application. In specific, xylanase can convert xylan into xylose, a fermentable sugar source for secondary bioethanol production. The objective on this study is to investigate the significance of different parameter effects for an efficient xylanase production from Aspergillus niger (A. niger). In this study, four factors: incubation temperature, medium pH, incubation time, and agitation speed were screened by performing One-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) analysis. Xylanase production with the maximal enzyme activity was successfully obtained from OFAT analysis under condition of 32°C, pH 5.0, 5 days, and 150 rpm.
      12  1
  • Publication
    Optimization of on-site Xylanase production from Aspergillus niger via Central Composite Design (CCD)
    (IOP Publishing, 2020)
    M Tarrsini
    ;
    Ng Qi Hwa
    ;
    Y P Teoh
    ;
    Kunasundari Balakrishnan
    ;
    W U Ang
    ;
    S H Shuit
    ;
    Z X Ooi
    ;
    Hoo Peng Yong
    Xylanases have stimulated considerable interest due to their potential application in several industries, especially in the bioethanol sector. Since the vitality of this enzyme is undeniable, this research is focused on optimization of on-site xylanase production from Aspergillus niger (A. niger). This initiative could reduce the dependence of commercial xylanase. Central Composite Design (CCD) was implemented in the process of xylanase production optimization. Incubation temperature and medium pH were two parameters selected to statistically optimized using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) in order to improve the xylanase production. From the data analyzed by Design of Experiment (DoE), maximal xylanase production was predicted to produce under condition of 32.67 °C and pH 4.56 with desirability of 0.936. A validation test with triplicate was done to verify the predicted result. The maximum enzyme activity of 0.5638 U/mL was obtained from the validation test.
      10  2