Abstract
Extraction of cellulose and hemicellulose from natural resources has attracted considerable interest. In comparison to other cereals, there is relatively little knowledge on the cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin content of sorghum by-products. As such, the aims of this study were to develop a multi-step process for sorghum by-products (bran, stalk and panicles) fractionation and characterise them with regards to their physicochemical properties. In terms of chemical composition, sorghum panicles were found similar to bran, featuring a significant presence of arabinoxylans as well. A sequential alkaline extraction with varying concentrations of NaOH was applied, resulting in the generation of three fractions (residue, hemicellulose and alkali soluble lignin). Fractionation of sorghum stalks with 1.0 M NaOH at 50 °C for 3 h obtained ~64 % (w/w) cellulose rich fraction and 52 % (w/w) of xylose, predominant in the hemicellulose fraction. In the bran, the fractionation with 0.75 M NaOH at 50 °C for 3 h obtained ~40 % (w/w) cellulose rich fraction. Approximately 76 % of the glucose was in hemicellulose fraction reflecting starch solubilisation in the case of bran, while nearly 2 % (w/w) alkaline-soluble lignin was extracted. Overall, this study demonstrated an effective approach for the fractionation and the recovery of key components in sorghum by-products.
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