Using Pretreatment and Enzymatic Saccharification Technologies to Produce Fermentable Sugars from Agricultural Wastes

Abstract

Every year, an abundance of agricultural wastes are produced after harvest, which are generally burned or discarded in the farmland. Agricultural wastes are an attractive lignocellulosic material for fermentable sugar production (glucose and xylose) since they are polysaccharide-rich resources. Unfortunately, the intimate associations between the main components of the cell wall create barriers for the enzymatic saccharification of cellulose and hemicellulose. Pretreatment plays a critical role in increasing enzymatic saccharification to obtain the glucose and xylose from pretreated agricultural wastes by different enzymes. The present review is a comprehensive evaluation to describe the advancements in pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification processes to produce the fermentable sugars from agricultural wastes. Using these agricultural wastes for the sugar production is ideal for developing bio-based chemicals while converting unwanted agricultural waste streams into valuable resources.