Kinetic Study of Acid Hydrolysis of the Glucose Obtained from Banana Plant

Abstract

The biomass of crops in rotation, such as that generated by the banana plant, is an interesting source of lignocellulose due to its composition and availability. This research aimed to compare the amount of glucose obtained from different parts of the banana plant (leaves, rachis, and pseudostem) by hydrolysis with sulfuric acid at 100 °C. This reaction was analyzed to determine the amount of water and reagents consumed versus the glucose obtained. The optimal time and acid concentration were studied between 0–30 min and 3–5% v/v, respectively. The best results were obtained with the pseudostem of 13.02 gL−1 of glucose in a reaction time of 20 min and an acid concentration of 5%. In addition, the kinetic study of hydrolysis was carried out. The adjustment to the Saeman model was R2 0.96, which represents a first-order reaction and kinetic constants K1 = 0.5 and K2 = 0.3 min−1. This study has shown that these residues can be used as raw materials to generate value-added products due to their high glucose content.