The use of treatment wetlands plants for protein and cellulose valorization in biorefinery platform

Different wetland plants were evaluated regarding their potential to be used in further green biorefining platforms to produce soluble protein and cellulose-textile fibers. The results show a higher protein content in the plants grown in treatment wetland conditions, compared with the same species grown in natural conditions, and diverse effect on the content of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, depending on the plant species, more than the growing environment. The TW biomass did not represent a risk regarding accumulation of heavy metals, named Pb, Cd, and Cr, since the studied plants did not present it in their tissues, neither in the roots nor in the leaves. The results regarding cellulose quality of the TW plants showed positive results, having values of molar mass distributions and degrees of polymerization that suggest a suitability to be considered for cellulose-fiber textiles studies. This is one of the first approaches, in the TW field, to establish a new criterion for selecting plant species to be planted in the system, aiming at recovering resources and use them as inputs for biorefineries and sustainable biobased products.

Automated summary

The study found that wetland plants grown in treatment wetland conditions had higher protein content and varied effects on cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin content. The cellulose quality of these plants showed positive results, indicating suitability for cellulose-fiber textiles research.