Production of Xylose from Pre-treated Husk of Areca Nut

ABSTRACT

Pre-treatment of biomass is a preordained phase for the fragmentation of lignocellulosic biomass to its basic constituents such as lignin and carbohydrate molecules. Existing pre-treatment technologies can extract the desirable chemicals from biomass, however, the choice of biomass is a challenge. The present study worked on husk generated after removing the nut from Areca fruit. The husks are the by-product resulting from the cultivation of Areca nut fruit. The present study focused on the comparison of biochemical characterization of this organic waste biomass before and after the acid and alkali pre-treatment process. Characterization includes thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR), and quantitative analysis of extractives. The present study revealed that the Areca husk fiber contained 29.17% hemicellulose which can be explored as a low-cost source of xylose.

摘要

生物质预处理是木质纤维素生物质裂解为木质素和碳水化合物等基本组分的预定阶段. 现有的预处理技术可以从生物质中提取出理想的化学物质，但生物质的选择是一个挑战. 研究了槟榔果实去核后产生的果壳. 果壳是槟榔果实栽培的副产品. 本研究主要是比较这类有机废弃物在酸碱预处理前后的生化特性. 表征包括（热重分析）、热重分析（TGA）、傅立叶变换红外光谱（FTIR）和抽提物的定量分析. 研究结果表明，槟榔皮纤维含有29.17%的半纤维素，可作为低成本木糖来源.

KEYWORDS:

• Characterization
• lignocellulose
• pre-treatment
• saccharification
• waste biomass
• xylose

关键词:

• 特征描述
• 木质纤维素
• 预处理
• 糖化
• 废弃生物质
• 木糖

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, for financial assistance to carry out this research work vide grant no. (BT/PR16747/NER/95/271/2015). The authors would like to thank the Analytical Lab facility at the Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Guwahati for XRD, FTIR and zeta potential analysis.

Conflict of interest

There is no conflict of interest statement.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, [BT/PR16747/NER/95/271/2015].