ALACEN: A Holistic Herbaceous Biomass Fractionation Process Attaining a Xylose-Rich Stream for Direct Microbial Conversion to Bioplastics

• Autores: Bertran Llorens, Salvador; Zhou, Wen; Palazzolo, Martín Alejandro; Colpa, Dana l.; Euverink, Gert Jan W.; Krooneman, Janneke; Deuss, Peter J.
• Año de publicación: 2024
• Idioma: inglés
• Tipo de recurso: artículo
• Materia: LIGNOCELLULOSE FRACTIONATION; PHB; LIGNIN; FERULIC ACID; DILUTE ACID PRETREATMENT; ALKALINE PRETREATMENT; ENZYMATIC SACCHARIFICATION; BIOPLASTIC
• Institución: Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas

Lignocellulose biorefining is a promising technology for the sustainable production of chemicals and biopolymers. Usually, when one component is focused on, the chemical nature and yield of the others are compromised. Thus, one of the bottlenecks in biomass biorefining is harnessing the maximum value from all of the lignocellulosic components. Here, we describe a mild stepwise process in a flow-through setup leading to separate flow-out streams containing cinnamic acid derivatives, glucose, xylose, and lignin as the main components from different herbaceous sources. The proposed process shows that minimal degradation of the individual components and conservation of their natural structure are possible. Under optimized conditions, the following fractions are produced from wheat straw based on their respective contents in the feed by the ALkaline ACid ENzyme process: (i) 78% ferulic acid from a mild ALkali step, (ii) 51% monomeric xylose free of fermentation inhibitors by mild ACidic treatment, (iii) 82% glucose from ENzymatic degradation of cellulose, and (iv) 55% native-like lignin. The benefits of using the flow-through setup are demonstrated. The retention of the lignin aryl ether structure was confirmed by HSQC NMR, and this allowed monomers to form from hydrogenolysis. More importantly, the crude xylose-rich fraction was shown to be suitable for producing polyhydroxybutyrate bioplastics. The direct use of the xylose-rich fraction by means of the thermophilic bacteria Schlegelella thermodepolymerans matched 91% of the PHA produced with commercial pure xylose, achieving 138.6 mgPHA/gxylose. Overall, the ALACEN fractionation method allows for a holistic valorization of the principal components of herbaceous biomasses.
Fil: Bertran Llorens, Salvador. University of Groningen; Países Bajos
Fil: Zhou, Wen. University of Groningen; Países Bajos
Fil: Palazzolo, Martín Alejandro. University of Groningen; Países Bajos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Básicas. - Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Básicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Química. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Química; Argentina
Fil: Colpa, Dana l.. University of Groningen; Países Bajos
Fil: Euverink, Gert Jan W.. University of Groningen; Países Bajos
Fil: Krooneman, Janneke. University of Groningen; Países Bajos
Fil: Deuss, Peter J.. University of Groningen; Países Bajos