Enhanced Xylose Recovery from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch by Efficient Acid Hydrolysis.

Tan, Hooi; Dykes, Gary; Wu, Ta; Siow, Lee

Oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) is abundantly available in Malaysia and it is a potential source of xylose for the production of high-value added products. This study aimed to optimize the hydrolysis of EFB using dilute sulfuric acid (HSO) and phosphoric acid (HPO) via response surface methodology for maximum xylose recovery. Hydrolysis was carried out in an autoclave. An optimum xylose yield of 91.2 % was obtained at 116 °C using 2.0 % ( v/ v) HSO, a solid/liquid ratio of 1:5 and a hydrolysis time of 20 min. A lower optimum xylose yield of 24.0 % was observed for dilute HPO hydrolysis at 116 °C using 2.4 % ( v/ v) HPO, a solid/liquid ratio of 1:5 and a hydrolysis time of 20 min. The optimized hydrolysis conditions suggested that EFB hydrolysis by HSO resulted in a higher xylose yield at a lower acid concentration as compared to HPO.

MALAYSIA; OIL palm; XYLOSE; SULFURIC acid; PHOSPHORIC acid; HYDROLYSIS

Applied Biochemistry & Biotechnology, 2013, Vol 170, Issue 7, p1602

0273-2289

Academic Journal

10.1007/s12010-013-0298-8