High yield biorefinery products from sugarcane bagasse: Prebiotic xylooligosaccharides, cellulosic ethanol, cellulose nanofibrils and lignin nanoparticles

Author(s)

Pereira, Barbara ^[1] ; Marcondes, Wilian F. ^[1] ; Carvalho, Walter ^[2] ; Arantes, Valdeir ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Lorena Sch Engn, Dept Biotechnol, Nanobiotechnol & Bioprod Lab, Lorena, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Lorena Sch Engn, Dept Biotechnol, Biochem Lab, Lorena, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Bioresource Technology; v. 342, DEC 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

An integrated biorefining strategy was applied to fractionate Sugarcane bagasse (SCB) into its major constituents, enabling high-yield conversion of the fractionated materials into high-value coproducts alongside cellulosic ethanol. Pilot-scale steam explosion produced a hydrolysate rich in low molecular weight xylooligosaccharides that had a high in vitro efficacy as a prebiotic towards different bifidobacteria. Lignin recovered after alkaline treatment of the steam-exploded SCB was converted into uniform spherical lignin nanoparticles (11.3 nm in diameter) by a green mechanical method. The resulting cellulose was hydrolyzed at 17.5% (w/v) consistency and low enzyme loading (17.5 mg/g) to yield a pure glucose hydrolysate at a high concentration (100 g/L) and a cellulosic solid residue that was defibrillated by disc ultra-refining into homogeneous cellulose nanofibrils (20.5 nm in diameter). Statistical optimization of the cellulosic hydrolysate fermentation led to ethanol pro-duction of 67.1 g/L, with a conversion yield of 0.48 g/g and productivity of 1.40 g/L.h. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 15/02862-5 - NANOCEL - development of enzyme mixtures for the preparation of nanocelluloses by a biohibrid process
• Grantee: Valdeir Arantes
• Support Opportunities: Program for Research on Bioenergy (BIOEN) - Young Investigators Grants