Pretreatment of Sugarcane Bagasse from Cane Hybrids: Effects on Chemical Composition and 2G Sugars Recovery

Cell wall composition in lignocellulosic biomass varies depending on genetic origin, growth conditions, weather and soil conditions. Here, we have evaluated the chemical characterization, morphology and enzymatic hydrolysis efficiencies (after sequential dilute acid-base pretreatment) of sugarcane bagasse from five different hybrid varieties of sugarcane. On average, bagasse samples showed cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin and ash compositions of 40.84, 24.07, 33.71 and 0.68%, respectively. Sequential acid-base pretreatment removed approximately 77 and 58% hemicellulose and lignin, respectively, leaving pulp samples rich in cellulose (up to 80%), which exhibited a maximum saccharification yields of 55.39% after enzymatic hydrolysis. We found average contents of cellulose (54.17 and 77.48%), hemicellulose (5.64 and 6.07%), lignin (37.28 and 15.40%) and ash (0.54 and 0.32%) in cellulignin and cellulosic pulp, respectively. Results showed that the genetic variability of sugarcane had no influence on the chemical composition and sugar recovery after saccharification of bagasse samples. Therefore, sugarcane bagasse from these new sugarcane varieties samples may be used for second generation sugars production. Cellulosic sugars may serve as primary building block for renewable fuels and chemicals production at commercial scale under biorefinery concept.