A Bibliometric Study of Scientific Publications regarding Hemicellulose Valorization during the 2000-2016 Period: Identification of Alternatives and Hot Topics

A bibliometric analysis of the Scopus database was carried out to identify the research trends related to hemicellulose valorization from 2000 to 2016. The results from the analysis revealed an increasing number of annual publications, a high degree of transdisciplinary collaboration and prolific contributions by European researchers on this topic. The importance of a holistic approach to consider the simultaneous valorization of the three main components of lignocellulosic biomass (cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin) must be highlighted. Optimal pretreatment processes are critical for the correct fractionation of the biomass and the subsequent valorization. On the one hand, biological conversion of sugars derived from hemicellulose can be employed for the production of biofuel (ethanol) or chemicals such as 2,3-butadiene, xylitol and lactic acid. On the other hand, the chemical transformation of these sugars produces furfural, 5-hydroxyfurfural and levulinic acid, which must be considered very important starting blocks for the synthesis of organic derivatives.