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Comparative study of cellulosic sugars production from sugarcane bagasse after dilute nitric acid, dilute sodium hydroxide and sequential nitric acid-sodium hydroxide pretreatment

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Abstract

The bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass to second generation (2G) sugars is crucial for the production of biofuels and commodity chemicals. However, due to its recalcitrant nature, pretreatment is an essential step to increase the accessibility of cellulolytic enzymes to hemicellulose and cellulose to obtain 2G sugars. In this study, sugarcane bagasse (SCB) was pretreated by dilute nitric acid (1% w/v), dilute sodium hydroxide (1% w/v) and sequential nitric acid-sodium hydroxide. The pretreated material was then enzymatically hydrolysed (5 and 10% total solids; TS) by cellulase (Cellic Ctec 2, Novozyme, Curitiba, Brazil). Sequential acid–base pretreated bagasse (cellulosic pulp) led the removal of lignin (70.63%) and hemicellulose (100%) and retained 92.33% cellulose. Enzymatic hydrolysis of sequential acid–base pretreated bagasse (5% TS) showed hydrolysis yield of 75.68% (glucose released), followed by sodium hydroxide pretreated with glucose (68.76%) and xylose (73.26%) and nitric acid pretreated with glucose (31.49%) and xylose (31.49%), respectively. Enzymatic hydrolysis of sequential acid–base pretreated (10% TS) showed hydrolysis yield of 66.20% (glucose), followed by glucose (63.02%) and xylose (60.14%) from sodium hydroxide pretreatment and finally glucose (28.71%) and xylose (23.56%) from dilute nitric acid pretreatment. Therefore, the cellulosic material showed high hydrolysis efficiency after enzymatic saccharification, proving that sequential removal of hemicellulose and lignin from the biomass enables high accessibility of cellulases to the substrate, eventually yielding high amount of 2G sugars.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Ipiranga Agroindustrial-Descalvado/São Paulo, Brazil, for providing the sugarcane bagasse samples. We also thank the Novozyme-Curitiba, Brazil, for providing the cellulase (Cellic Ctec 2) for enzymatic hydrolysis.

Funding

AKC is grateful to the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Brazil, for the financial assistance through visiting professor and researcher program (Process USP number: 15.1.1118.1.0). SSS and JJA are also grateful with the financial support provided by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo—BIOEN: 08/57926-4 (FAPESP–BIOEN).

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  1. Department of Biotechnology, Engineering School of Lorena – University of São Paulo, Estrada Municipal do Campinho, s/n, Lorena, SP, 12.602-810, Brazil

    Jesús J. Ascencio, Anuj K. Chandel, Rafael R. Philippini & Silvio S. da Silva

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  1. Jesús J. Ascencio
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  2. Anuj K. Chandel
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Correspondence to Anuj K. Chandel.

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Ascencio, J.J., Chandel, A.K., Philippini, R.R. et al. Comparative study of cellulosic sugars production from sugarcane bagasse after dilute nitric acid, dilute sodium hydroxide and sequential nitric acid-sodium hydroxide pretreatment. Biomass Conv. Bioref. 10, 813–822 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-019-00547-6

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