Comparison of selective acidolysis of xylan and enzymatic hydrolysability of cellulose in various lignocellulosic materials by a novel xylonic acid catalysis method

An economically-prudent pretreatment is a crucial first step towards realization of the industrial lignocellulosic biorefinery. The aim of this study was to utilize lignocellulosic biomass to co-produce xylo-oligosaccharides (XOS) and glucose starting from a novel self-providing xylonic acid (XA) acidolysis method. Based on the optimization results of main acidolysis pretreatment parameters by uniform design experiments, we found that among various lignocellulosic materials, the highest yield of XOS from xylan was 54.16% with corncob, followed by 39.19% with wheat straw, 29.01% with corn straw and 30.23% with poplar sawdust. By effective degradation and removal of xylan constituents with XA acidolysis, enzymatic hydrolysabilities of inert cellulose constituents of corn cob, corn straw, wheat straw and poplar sawdust were achieved to 100%, 72.94%, 75.35% and 38.97%. Comparative mass balance diagrams of xylan and cellulose reveal that XA acidolysis pretreatment is environmental-friendly and effective for three agricultural residues, apart from woody poplar.