Obtaining fermentable reducing sugars by chemical hydrolysis of mesquite pod fractions (Atena Editora)

Abstract

Fermentable sugars can be obtained from a wide variety of lignocellulosic residues. To obtain it, a pre-treatment is necessary to remove lignin and hemicellulose. In this work, the effect of dilute hydrolysis and its relationship with temperature, time and agitation as the only factor in the release of reducing sugars from the whole meal of the mesquite pod was initially evaluated. It was observed that, as the reaction time increased (2 to 4 h), the concentration of reducing sugars decreased by 39.5 %, 59.75 %, and 57.8 % compared to a treatment for 4 h at 0.5, 1, and 2 N. of acid. On the other hand, when the temperature increased from 60 to 90 °C, no significant difference was observed compared to an acid concentration of 1N, obtaining an average of 66.8 g/L of reducing sugars. When studying agitation as the main factor on hydrolysis, it was observed that the concentration of reducing sugars was lower compared to the treatments at different temperatures and times. When evaluating the best hydrolysis conditions of the four mesquite pod fractions studied, it was observed that the highest amount of reducing sugars was obtained in the mesocarp with 38 g/L followed by the pericarp, integral and endocarp, obtaining 18.3, 15.07 and 2.6. g/L respectively at 2 h, 60 °C and 0.5 N acid without stirring.