Influence of Novel EnZolv Pretreatment on the Release of Reducing Sugar and Proximate Content of Banana Fiber

Lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) from agriculture residues has gained a lot of attention in recent years for its conversion to useful by-products. The one drawback that the conversion of biomass faces is its recalcitrant nature which can be overcome by effective pretreatment technology. One such process is the EnZolv, a novel pretreatment technique used for delignification of biomass and it was recognized as an eco-friendly approach. The main objective of our present study is to optimize the novel EnZolv process parameters for enhanced release of reducing sugar from banana fiber. Banana fiber pre-optimization for EnZolv pretreated at 100% moisture content, incubated at 40 degrees C temperature, with an enzyme load of 50 U center dot g-1 of biomass for an incubation time of 5 h at a shaking speed of 100 rpm yielded enhanced sugar release of 1.7 mg center dot mL-1. The effect of pretreatment on proximate composition results in a decrease in the volatile matter (53%) and moisture percentage (1.07%) and an increase in the other parameters such as ash content (12%) and fixed carbon content (34%) under the optimized condition. A significantly higher release of phenol content 1264 mu g center dot mL-1 equivalent to gallic acid suggests that EnZolv pretreatment confirms the degradation of lignin content in the biomass.

Automated summary

Lignocellulosic biomass from agriculture residues has gained attention for its conversion to useful by-products. This study optimized the EnZolv pretreatment process parameters for enhanced release of reducing sugar from banana fiber. The results showed that the pretreatment significantly increased sugar release and affected the composition of the biomass.