AsianScientist (Jun. 27, 2019) – Researchers in Japan and China have developed a two-step method to more efficiently break down carbohydrates into their single sugar components for the production of green fuel. They published their results in the journal Industrial & Engineering Chemical Research.
Saccharification is the process by which carbohydrates are broken down into their single component sugars. For a long time, saccharification has been carried out by homogenous acids and enzymes.
However, the use of enzymes to break down carbohydrates could be hindered because of the way the carbohydrates are stored. For example, rice straw—a product of rice harvesting—contains three complicated carbohydrates: starch, hemicellulose and cellulose. Enzymes cannot approach hemicellulose or cellulose due to the structure of the plant cell wall and the surface area available for enzymatic activity.
To overcome the limitations of enzyme-catalyzed saccharification, researchers led by Professor Erika W. Qian at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology in Japan developed a two-step process to breakdown complex sugars. The first step subjects hemicellulose to a gentle solid acid treatment at low temperatures (<150 degrees Celsius), while the second step involves the treatment of cellulose with a stronger solid acid at higher temperatures (>210 degrees Celsius).
Overall, the two-step process not only proved effective, it produced about 30 percent more sugars than traditional one-step processes.
“We are now looking for a partner to evaluate the feasibility of our two-step saccharification process in rice straw and other various materials such as wheat straw, corn stoke and so on in a pilot unit,” Qian said. “Our ultimate goal is to commercialize our process to manufacture monosaccharides from this type of material in the future.”
The article can be found at: Sukma et al. (2019) Two-Step Saccharification of Rice Straw Using Solid Acid Catalysts.
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Source: Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology; Photo: Pixabay.
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