Production of Sugars and Ethanol from Acid–Alkaline-Pretreated <i>Agave sisalana</i> Residue

Production of Sugars and Ethanol from Acid–Alkaline-Pretreated <i>Agave sisalana</i> Residue

Drylands in Brazil have been exploring sisal (<i>Agave sisalana</i>) as an essential source of income. However, the solid residues generated because of this activity still need suitable destinations; therefore, research has been carried out to transform them into added-value products. Th...

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Main Authors: Habila Yusuf Thomas, José Demétrio Nery Cavalcante, Willame Marinho dos Santos, Domingos Fabiano de Santana Souza, Carlos Eduardo de Araújo Padilha, Rômulo Simões Cezar Menezes, Rafael Barros de Souza, Emmanuel Damilano Dutra
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-10-01
Series:Reactions
Subjects:
enzymatic hydrolysis
fermentation
sulfuric acid
sisal
cellulase
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2624-781X/5/4/38
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Summary:Drylands in Brazil have been exploring sisal (<i>Agave sisalana</i>) as an essential source of income. However, the solid residues generated because of this activity still need suitable destinations; therefore, research has been carried out to transform them into added-value products. Therefore, the present study evaluated the potential of sisal or agave solid residue as a precursor feedstock for second-generation ethanol production. Acid and acid–alkaline pretreatments were carried out on sisal residues to enrich the biomass with cellulose and maximize enzymatic digestibility. Second-generation ethanol production was carried out using Semi-simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSSF). Regardless of catalyst dosage and incubation time, oxalic acid pretreatments generated samples with a similar chemical composition to those pretreated with sulfuric acid. However, samples pretreated with oxalic acid showed lower enzymatic digestibility. Samples pretreated with oxalic acid and sodium hydroxide obtained 14.28 g/L of glucose and cellulose conversion of 79.1% (at 5% solids), while 21.49 g/L glucose and 91.2% of cellulose conversion were obtained in the hydrolysis of pretreated samples with sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide combined pretreatments. The pretreatment sequence efficiently reduced cellulase dosage from 20 to 10 FPU/g without compromising sugar release. SSSF achieved maximum production of 40 g/L ethanol and 43% ethanol conversion using 30% solids and gradually adding biomass and cellulases.
ISSN:2624-781X

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