Composition and methods for improving the production of fermentation operations

1. A method of increasing the overall rate of ethanol production by a yeast during fermentation of sugars in a fermentation medium, wherein the sugars are derived from a feedstock substrate consisting essentially of corn, wheat, rye, barley, cassava, millet, potato, cellulose, molasses, fruit, cane juice or beet juice, or a combination of any two or more of said feedstock substrates, the method comprising adding an emulsion comprising a monoterpene and a surfactant to said fermentation medium in amount sufficient to improve the viability of said yeast, thereby increasing the overall rate of ethanol production as the primary product of fermentation.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the fermentation is achieved with a yeast is selected from the group consisting Saccharomyces sp., Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Kluyveromyces sp., and a combination thereof.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the yeast is Saccharomyces sp.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the monoterpene is selected from the group consisting of pinene, nerol, cetral, camphor, menthol, limonene, and mixtures thereof.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the monoterpene is limonene.

6. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the monoterpene is an isolated and purified monoterpene.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the surfactant is selected from ethoxylated alcohols, ethoxylated carbohydrates, ethoxylated vegetable oils, polyethyleneglycols (PEG), polypropylene glycols (PPG), monoesters and diesters of PEG and PPG, ethoxylated amines, fatty acids, ethoxylated fatty acids, fatty amides, and fatty diethanolamides.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the surfactant has an HLB value between about 7 and about 25.

9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the surfactant has an HLB value between about 9 and about 18.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the surfactant has an HLB value between about 11 and about 16.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the surfactant comprises one or more of oleyl alcohol 10 EO, Tween 20, stearyl alcohol 20 EO, castor oil 80 EO, castor oil 30 EO, PEG 400 Dioleate, tallow amine 5 EO, Burco TME-S, coconut diethanolamide, Ethfac 161, cocoamine 2 EO, cocoamine 5 EO, Dowanol DB Demulse DLN 532 CE, Tween 80, Demulse DLN 622 EG, Span 20, Diacid 1550, decyl alcohol 4 EO, dipropyleneglycol methyl ester, sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium dodecyl sulfate, sodium xylenesulfonate, and Tergitol NP6.

12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the combination of the monoterpene and the surfactant is added to the fermentation medium before inoculation with the yeast.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the combination of the monoterpene and the surfactant is added to the fermentation medium during the first one-third of the fermentation.

14. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the combination of the monoterpene and the surfactant is added to the fermentation medium during the middle one-third of the fermentation.

15. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the combination of the monoterpene and the surfactant is added to the fermentation medium during the final one-third of the fermentation.

16. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the combination of the monoterpene and the surfactant is added to the fermentation medium in two or more increments during the fermentation.

17. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the surfactant and the monoterpene is an oil-in-water emulsion.

18. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the combination of the monoterpene and the surfactant comprises an emulsion comprising from about 1% to about 70% of a monoterpene, from about 0.2% to about 25% of a surfactant, all by weight, with the balance including water.

19. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the combination of the monoterpene and the surfactant comprises an emulsion comprising from about 2% to about 20% of a monoterpene, from about 1% to about 20% of a surfactant, all by weight, with the balance including water.

20. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the combination of the monoterpene and the surfactant comprises an emulsion comprising from about 3% to about 15% of a monoterpene, from about 2% to about 10% of a surfactant, all by weight, with the balance including water.

21. The method according to claim 19 , wherein the emulsion comprising the monoterpene and the surfactant is added to the fermentation medium in an amount of from about 0.1 ppm to about 1000 ppm, by weight.

22. The method according to claim 21 , wherein the emulsion comprising the monoterpene and the surfactant is added to the fermentation medium in an amount of from about 1 ppm to about 100 ppm, by weight based on the total weight fermentation medium.

23. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the fermentation medium contains essentially no sugars derived from orange peels.

24. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the feedstock substrate contains essentially no monoterpene before adding the emulsion of monoterpene and surfactant.