Abstract
Lignocellulosic feedstocks are an important resource for biorefining of renewables to bio-based fuels, chemicals, and materials. Relevant feedstocks include energy crops, residues from agriculture and forestry, and agro-industrial and forest-industrial residues. The feedstocks differ with respect to their recalcitrance to bioconversion through pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification, which will produce sugars that can be further converted to advanced biofuels and other products through microbial fermentation processes. In analytical enzymatic saccharification, the susceptibility of lignocellulosic samples to pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification is assessed in analytical scale using high-throughput or semi-automated techniques. This type of analysis is particularly relevant for screening of large collections of natural or transgenic varieties of plants that are dedicated to production of biofuels or other bio-based chemicals. In combination with studies of plant physiology and cell wall chemistry, analytical enzymatic saccharification can provide information about the fundamental reasons behind lignocellulose recalcitrance as well as about the potential of collections of plants or different fractions of plants for industrial biorefining. This review is focused on techniques used by researchers for screening the susceptibility of plants to pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification, and advantages and disadvantages that are associated with different approaches.
Highlights
The phase-out of fossil fuels in the transport sector is a major challenge that will require a combination of different measures including improved fuel efficiency, electrification, and increased production of conventional and advanced biofuels [1]
Processes in which sugars are converted to ethanol, and perhaps further on to other energy carriers, are likely to play an important role in the biofuel sector in the future
The aim of this review is to compare different approaches that have been employed for analytical enzymatic saccharification of lignocellulosic biomass, and to highlight advantages and disadvantages with different approaches
Summary
The phase-out of fossil fuels in the transport sector is a major challenge that will require a combination of different measures including improved fuel efficiency, electrification, and increased production of conventional and advanced biofuels [1]. Production levels of advanced biofuels are not on track and major efforts are required in this area within the coming decade [1]. The most wide-spread biofuel today is ethanol, with USA and Brazil being the two main producers, and corn grain and cane sugar being the two main feedstocks [2,3,4]. Processes in which sugars are converted to ethanol, and perhaps further on to other energy carriers, are likely to play an important role in the biofuel sector in the future
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