Abstract
The present study developed three different microwave-assisted alkalic salt pretreatments (Na3PO4·12H2O, Na2CO3 and CH3COONa) to improve sugar yield from corn cob wastes. Process inputs included pretreatment time, alkalic salt concentration and microwave power intensity with the sugar yield as the corresponding output. All three pretreatment models gave high coefficient of determination values (R2> 0.85). The Na3PO4·12H2O treatment (11.55% Na3PO4.12H2O at 700 W for 6 min) led to the maximum sugar yield (0.76 ± 0.01 g/g). All three pretreatment methods displayed key structural changes in the corn cob structure after pretreatment. This study gave an 11% higher sugar yield in contrast to a previous microwave-assisted pretreatment report on corn cobs. The developed pretreatment strategy was effective for improving the sugar recovery from lignocellulosic wastes and can be channelled towards microbial production of fuels and high value commodities.
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