Glucose recovery from different corn stover fractions using dilute acid and alkaline pretreatment techniques

Abstract

Background: Limited availability of corn stover due to the competing uses (organic manure, animal feed, bio-materials, and bioenergy) presents a major concern for its future in the bio-economy. Furthermore, biomass research has exhibited different results due to the differences in the supply of enzymes and dissimilar analytical methods. The effect of the two leading pretreatment techniques (dilute acid and alkaline) on glucose yield from three corn stover fractions (cob, stalk, and leaf) sourced from a single harvest in Uganda were studied at temperatures 100, 120, 140, and 160°C over reaction times of 5, 10, 30, and 60 min. Results: From this study, the highest glucose concentrations obtained from the dilute acid (DA) pretreated cobs, stalks, and leaves were 18.4 g/L (66.8% glucose yield), 16.2 g/L (64.1% glucose yield), and 11.0 g/L (49.5% glucose yield), respectively. The optimal pretreatment settings needed to obtain these yields from the DA pretreated samples were at a temperature of 160°C over an incubation time of 30 min. The highest glucose concentrations obtained from the alkaline (AL) pretreated cobs, stalks, and leaves were 24.7 g/L (81.73% glucose yield), 21.3 g/L (81.23% glucose yield), and 15.0 g/L (51.92% glucose yield), respectively. To be able to achieve these yields, the optimal pretreatment settings for the cobs and stalks were 140°C and for a retention time of 30 min, while the leaves require optimal conditions of 140°C and for a retention time of 60 min. Conclusions: The study recommends that the leaves could be left on the field during harvesting since the recovery of glucose from the pretreated cobs and stalks is higher.

An open source computational workflow for the discovery of autocatalytic networks in abiotic reactions

“… 42 ), and the economic importance of using such abundant by-products of agriculture ( e.g. , corn-stover 43 ), there is considerable interest in understanding how to convert glucose to other economically useful compounds ( e.g. , lactic acid 44 ).…”

“…Given the centrality of glucose in biochemistry, its abundance in biomass in the form of compounds such as starch and cellulose (e.g., ref. 42), and the economic importance of using such abundant by-products of agriculture (e.g., corn-stover 43 ), there is considerable interest in understanding how to convert glucose to other economically useful compounds (e.g., lactic acid 44 ). We tested the validity of our ADG CRNR simulation by matching our model's output against the compounds identied in a previous comprehensive GC-MS analysis of this reaction 36 (see ESI Section 3.5 † for details).…”

The “Zero Miles Product” Concept Applied to Biofuel Production: A Case Study

“…They include arboreal residues, residues of grains, corns, flowers, grass, and straws. These residues are characterized by a higher water content and their sugar composition can range between 30 and 50% [35]. Their availability is seasonal, coinciding with the harvesting periods.…”

Enzymatic and Dilute Acid Hydrolyses of Maize Stalk Substrate in Bio-ethanol Production

“…There are a number of reports on the enzymatic hydrolysis of corn and its residual parts, and a few of them is presented in this section. The effect of dilute acids and alkaline mix as a pretreatment method on corn stover components was investigated by Aboagye et al [29]. Also by pretreating with dilute acid, corn straw was reduced to sugar using cellulase enzymatic hydrolysis [12].…”