Evaluation of acid-thermal pretreatments and enzymatic saccharification to obtain fermentable sugars from the juice and bagasse of Agave salmiana leaves

Abstract

This study presents the results of acid-thermal pretreatments and enzymatic saccharification for the production of fermentable sugars from the juice and bagasse of Agave salmiana leaves. In the acid-thermal pretreatment, H2SO4 was used while in the enzymatic saccharification the commercial enzyme Cellic Ctec2 (Novozyme) was used. In the results it was found that the best conditions of the acid thermal pretreatment (H2SO4 % (v/v) at 100 ° C for 30 min) for the juice generated a concentration of 43.65 ± 1.36 g/L of reducing sugars. In bagasse, the best conditions (H2SO4 % (p/v) at 120 ° C for 60 min) produced a concentration of 37.35 ± 1.65 g/L of reducing sugars in the hydrolysates. In the enzymatic saccharification at 15 FPU/g substrate and solids load of 10 % (p/v), a concentration of 87.37 ± 1.27 g/L of reducing sugars was obtained after 72 h. The results obtained demonstrate the potential of the integral use of bagasse and juices from the leaves of Agave salmiana as raw material to produce fermentable sugars.