A biorefinery strategy for spent industrial ginger waste

An integrated biorefinery approach using spent industrial ginger waste for resource recovery is reported. Valuable products including ginger oil, starch, microfibrillated cellulose (MFC), bio-oil and hydrochar were obtained. Approximately 4 % ginger oil, with a profile similar to commercial ginger oil, can be recovered via Soxhlet or Supercritical CO2 + 10 %EtOH extraction. The oil-free ginger residues were processed using two microwave techniques: starch, MFC and sugar-rich hydrolysates were firstly gained through hydrothermal microwave processing (120-200 degrees C in water alone), whilst chemical-rich bio-oils and energy-dense hydrochar (20-24.5 MJ kg(-1)) were obtained via conventional microwave pyrolysis (220-280 degrees C). The ginger MFC exhibited increased propensity to form microfibrillated cellulose (as evidenced by Transmission Electron Microscopy) with increasing temperature. Nanocrystalline cellulose was produced at the highest processing temperature (200 degrees C). These changes are commensurate with the leaching and decomposition of the amorphous regions within cellulose. The molecules and materials isolated have further downstream applications and, thus, compared to current low value resolution methods (dumping, burning or animal feed), spent industrial ginger waste is a significant resource for consideration within a biorefinery concept

Automated summary

An integrated biorefinery approach using spent industrial ginger waste for resource recovery has been reported, resulting in the obtainment of valuable products like ginger oil, starch, microfibrillated cellulose, bio-oil, and hydrochar. Microwave techniques were employed for processing the ginger residues to obtain various products, showcasing their potential for downstream applications. This approach offers a more sustainable solution for handling industrial ginger waste compared to traditional disposal methods.