Study on enzymatic saccharification of Suaeda salsa as a new potential feedstock for bio-ethanol production

Suaeda salsa, a herbaceous species widely distributed in Chinese seaside and desert, not only regulates soil environment, but also provides considerable amounts of biomass. In this research, the optimization of dilute acid pretreatment was performed for enzymatic saccharification of S. salsa. Effect of sulfuric acid concentration, liquid-solid ratio and pretreatment time on xylose and glucose yield in the pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis stage was studied with single-factor experiment method. Xylose yield and glucose yield reached a maximum of 18.48 g and 25.49 g per 100 g raw material respectively at the pretreatment condition with 2.6% (w/w) sulfuric acid concentration, 50 min, 8:1 liquid-solid ratio (v/w) and 125 degrees C. The changes in compositions of the pretreated S. salsa were also investigated. And the changes in structures of the pretreated S. salsa were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The results revealed that S. salsa was a potential feedstock for bio-ethanol production and high value-added products. (C) 2013 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.