Effect of pretreatment on the saccharification of agrowastes

Biomass burning has a significant impact on global atmospheric chemistry since it provides large sources of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and hydrocarbons, primarily in the tropics. Rural areas of developing countries depend primarily on biomass for fuel. Biofuels include the wood fuels, and agricultural waste, such as crop residues and dung. The recent thrust in bioconversion of agricultural and industrial wastes to chemical feedstock has led to extensive studies on the pretreatment methods. The main aim of this study was to determine the effective pretreatment method, therefore, to alter or remove structural and compositional impediments to hydrolysis and subsequent degradation processes. The agrowastes collected were subjected to acid and alkali hydrolysis and thereby the release of sugar was studied both before and after pretreatment. The results showed that compared to the acid pretreated samples, more release of sugar was achieved from the alkali-pretreated samples. Also, it was found that as the concentration of alkali increases, the release of glucose also increased. Of the different agrowastes used in the study, groundnut shell (387 mg glucose / g of agrowaste) was found to be the best in releasing the sugars. The released sugar could help in the bioethanol production.