Alkaline hydrogen peroxide pretreatment of cashew apple bagasse for ethanol production: Study of parameters

摘要

The alkaline hydrogen peroxide (AHP) pretreatment of cashew apple bagasse (CAB) was evaluated based on the conversion of the resultant cellulose into glucose. The effects of the concentration of hydrogen peroxide at pH 11.5, the biomass loading and the pretreatment duration performed at 35°C and 250rpm were evaluated after the subsequent enzymatic saccharification of the pretreated biomass using a commercial cellulase enzyme. The CAB used in this study contained 20.56±2.19% cellulose, 10.17±0.89% hemicellulose and 35.26±0.90% lignin. The pretreatment resulted in a reduced lignin content in the residual solids. Increasing the H_2O_2 concentration (0-4.3% v/v) resulted in a higher rate of enzymatic hydrolysis. Lower biomass loadings gave higher glucose yields. In addition, no measurable furfural and hydroxymethyl furfural were produced in the liquid fraction during the pretreatment. The results show that alkaline hydrogen peroxide is effective for the pretreatment of CAB.