Cellulose and hemicellulose recovery from oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) fibers and production of sugars from the fibers

Abstract

A sequential two-step treatment with peracetic acid (PA) and alkaline peroxide (AP) at mild temperatures (20–35°C) removed more than 98% of the lignin from oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) fiber. For each kilogram of EFB fiber treated, 200–250g of a solids fraction and 120–170g of a precipitate fraction were recovered after the treatment. Subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis (45°C, 72h) of the recovered solids (excluding the precipitate) resulted in a glucose yield of 629.8±0.5g per kg of the original dry EFB biomass. Enzymatic hydrolysis of untreated EFB yielded only 3.0±0.0g glucose per kg of dry EFB. Therefore, the PA-AP pretreatment enhanced glucose recovery from EFB by nearly 210-fold. The total treatment time was 93h (a 9h PA treatment at 35°C, a 12h treatment with AP (20°C, 4% NaOH), 72h of enzymatic hydrolysis).