I.

INTRODUCTION
Through the years, the production of ethanol by fermentation has increased due to the
biofuels demand, and consequently generation of by-products of this industry such as fusel oil
has increased as well. Fusel oil is a valuable byproduct of the fuel ethanol industry that can be
used to isolate C6 alcohols and other fragrances and flavor ingredients. It is a mixture obtained
as a side cut during ethanol distillation, mainly composed of isoamyl alcohol, water, isobutanol,
ethanol and other short chain alcohols (C3-C5). These alcohols can be considered valuable raw
material for various products of industrial interest such as: biosolventes, extractants, flavors,
fragrances, pharmaceuticals and plasticizers, among others. According to literature reports, major
components of fusel oil are isoamyl alcohol (present in around 80% to 90% mass composition),
water, ethanol and heavy components.
Isoamyl alcohol is a five carbon alcohol that can be produced by fermentation of the
biomass feedstocks with microorganism just like ethanol. It is an important flavor component of
yeast-fermented alcoholic beverages and also used as a precursor for synthesis of various
chemicals, such as isoamyl acetate. The formation of higher alcohols such as isoamyl alcohol (3methyl- 1 -butanol), isobutanol (2-methyl- 1 -propanol), and n-propanol (I-propanol) depends
upon the nature of the carbohydrate-containing materials employed in the fermentation (i.e., the
presence of amino acids, assimilable nitrogen compounds, the temperature, aeration and the
inoculum concentration), and also probably upon the type of micro-organism utilized, as well as
the refining methods employed. These higher alcohols arise through decarboxylation and
reduction of the corresponding a-keto acids. These a-keto acids are formed either by
transamination of the corresponding amino acids (usually termed the Ehrlich mechanism).
Pyruvate decarboxylase is the key enzyme of alcoholic fermentation as it cleaves pyruvate to

acetaldehyde and carbon dioxide likely to produce isovaleraldehyde (3-methyl-1-butanal) from

a-ketoisocaproate (a-KIC) to form isoamyl alcohol which has been purified by various
distillation methods.
This chapter serves as an intensive review of all the given journals and literature related
to the production of isoamyl alcohol. It also includes the properties, composition, corresponding
uses of the raw materials as well as the preparation and treatment of these materials that will be
employed in the different processes. Moreover, this part of the study discusses the different
equipments, its operating conditions, and the processes that were usually used in the isoamyl
alcohol production.