Dilute Acid Hydrolysis for Optimization of Sugar Concentrations Frompennisetum Purpureum: a Conventional Approach

Dilute Acid Hydrolysis for Optimization of Sugar Concentrations Frompennisetum Purpureum: a Conventional Approach | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Dilute Acid Hydrolysis for Optimization of Sugar Concentrations Frompennisetum Purpureum: a Conventional Approach Ogunsuyi, Helen Olayinka, Olu-Egbor, Oseyomon Gabriel This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4556471/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The present study was conducted for the optimization of process variables used for the acid hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass, Pennisteum purpureum (Elephant grass) which is a renewable resource that can be used for the generation of bio-based chemicals. This research used dilute sulphuric acid as a catalyst for hydrolysis of elephant grass. The study was aimed at investigating the viability of elephant grass to generate hexose and pentose sugars which are major feedstock for the production of bio-based chemicals. The process variables such as acid concentration, temperature and contact time were varied and effect of these parameters on the production of sugars (xylose, glucose and arabinose) as well as on the formation of degradation products (furfural and hydroxymethylfurfural) in the hydrolysate (hemicellulosic fraction) were studied. From the preliminary analysis, each portion of the elephant grass had an average value of 38.56% and 16.14% for carbohydrates and hemicellulose contents respectively. The optimum conditions of 0.4 wt % H 2 SO 4 , 140 ºC, 180 minutes for acid concentration, temperature and contact time respectively was found. Under these conditions, the hydrolysate contained 5.453 g/L glucose, 2.719 g/L xylose, 1.106 g/L arabinose, 0.02195 g/L furfural and 0.0153 g/L 5-hydroxymethylfurfural.For effective production of sugar from elephant grass biomass high concentration of acid was found not favourable for the hydrolysis of the biomass. The conditions under which the experiment was conducted confirmed the possibility of generating pentose and hexose sugars from elephant grass with the potential of being used as feedstock for producing bio-based chemicals and products. Renewable Resources Biotechnology and Bioengineering Environmental Chemistry Chemical Engineering hydrolysis sugars elephant grass Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 1. Introduction The low cost and renewable nature of lignocellulosic biomass make it an ideal feedstock which can serve as platforms for the production of different value-added bio-products and chemicals by various biotechnological processes. The bio-based chemicals obtained from lignocellulosic biomass are more environmentally friendly when compared to petrochemicals (Mantanis et al., 2000 ; Mussatto and Teixeira 2010 ). Grass is the world’s cheapest lignocellulosic biomass, often treated as weeds or feeds for animals and whose value has not been fully realized. However, grasses are capable of becoming a potential feedstock for the production of bio-based chemicals because of their high availability and accessibility. Most tropical countries have high potential to grow cellulosic elephant grass due to their solar radiation, diversity of climatic zones and biodiversity (Elian et al., 2014 ). Elephant grass has been noted as a promising feedstock for various bio-products because of their prolific yields, zero cultivation costs, ability to thrive on low quality land and low environmental impact (Strezovet al., 2008 ). Elephant grass has a fast growing rate and is harvested approximately four times annually. In addition, the composition of elephant grass, which is approximately 30–40% cellulose and 25–30% hemicecullose, makes it a strong potential source of carbohydrates (Aiyejagbara et al., 2016 ).It also a promising raw material for sugar recovery especially the monosaccharides which have formed the basis for researchers for biofuel production such as bioethanol and. It is a high potential energy crop due to its high sugar content compared with other biomass raw materials such as cassava, sugarcane and coconut. Currently, various established physical, chemical, thermal and biological hydrolysis/ pre-treatment technologies as well as their combinations have been employed to make grasses susceptible to further chemical, enzymatic and microbial conversions which further improves the chances of grasses being a promising feedstock for sugar recovery, boosting the chances of producing higher quantities of bio-based chemical and making bio-refining processes more economical (Chandel et al., 2012 ). Hydrolysis of grass biomass using dilute acid solutions has been studied by several researchers (Ngyuen et al., 1999 ; Kim et al., 2000 ; Neureiter et al., 2002 ). The results obtained were dependent on the raw material type and operational conditions employed. Hydrolysis of most biomass involves solubilization and partial destruction of the sugars produced. As a consequence, the amount of sugars recovered from the raw material is dependent on the contact time, temperature and acid concentration (Pessoa et al., 1996 ). This article will discuss the optimization of process variables of hydrolysis for quantitative recovery of pentose,C 5 and hexose,C 6 monomeric sugars from the hydrolysate of the elephant grass biomass with minimum concentration of inhibitory products. 2. Materials and methods 2.1 Sample collection and preparation Samples of Elephant grass were collected from OritaObele, off Ire-Akari Estate, Akure, Ondo State. All samples were then sun-dried for three weeks. The dried biomass samples were milled separately using a mechanical miller and sieved to obtain 2mm mesh size particles of the various plant portions. 2.2 Characterization elephant grass The various of samples of elephant grass(were analyzed according to standard procedures for crude protein (method AOAC 2001.11), fat (method AOAC 2003.06), ash (method AOAC 942.05), moisture (method AOAC 935.29), crude fibre, extractable (NREL–TP–510–42619), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) (method AOAC 2002.04), and acid detergent fiber (ADF) (method AOAC 973.18). All samples were analyzed in triplicates. 2.3 Hydrolysis of elephant grass Homogenous samples of elephant grass were hydrolysed at acid concentrations of 0.4 and 4.0 wt% H 2 SO 4 using a percolating reactor with adequate liquid circulation. The mixture was carried out in the ratio of 1:47(W/W) of sample to acid.. The prepared acid solution is percolated through a bed of the coarse fiber placed in a basket in the digester. The percolated liquid drains through the bottom and is recirculated to the top of the basket, passing through a heater using a pump. The heater is controlled through a heat regulator. 2.4 Scanning electron microscopy All the elephant grass samples were allowed to dry and their surface morphologies were studied before and after hydrolysis. The elephant grass samples were mounted onto the stub and coated in gold using the sputter coaters and then viewed under the Scanning Electron Microscope (Phenom ProX Model). 2.5 Functional group analysis Fourier Transform Infra-red analysis was performed to determine the change in functional groups of the non hydrolysed and acid-hydrolysed elephant grass biomass using Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. The sample was scanned at a resolution of 4 cm − 1 in the frequency range of 4000– 500 cm − 1 . The spectra were recorded on a computer using the software Spectrum for Windows, Perkin-Elmer 2.6 Optimization of sugar concentrations The optimum conditions to achieve quantitative recovery of sugar from elephant grass were monitored using the following process variables: acid concentration ( 0.4 and 4.0 wt % H 2 SO 4 ), temperature (40ºC, 60ºC, 80ºC, 100ºC, 120ºC and 140ºC) and contact time (15–180 min). 2.7 Analysis Hydrolysate samples were analysed for sugar and degradation products using a UV-Spectrophotometer according to the methods of Chi et al. (2009 and 2013). 3. Results and discussion 3.1 Preliminary compositions The compositions of the elephant grass biomass are seen in Fig. 1 . Each experiment was done in the triplicates; reported results indicate the average values of the replicated experiments. The results show that the elephant grass have high percentage of fibre and carbohydrates contents of 29% and 41.05% respectively. This result is in accordance with the report by Shittu et al ( 2011 ) that recorded almost similar values of 41.18% value for carbohydrates but a lower value of 15.12% for fibre, as reported in elephant grass. The result also revealed that the biomass had an average cellulose and hemicelluloses contents of 23.22% and 17.65% respectively. The results show variance to some degree with the report by shittu et.al ( 2011 ) who gave values of 27.98 and 21.99% cellulose and hemicelluloses respectively. Also, the result is not in congruous with values given by Sun and Cheng ( 2002 ) who reported higher ranges of 25–40% and 35–50% for cellulose and hemicelluloses for grasses. The values are even more lower compared with their study on switch grass with values of 45% and 31.4% for cellulose and hemicellulose (sun and cheng, 2000). It should be noted that biomass compositions are influenced by the factors such as whether woody or non-woody, geographical locations, methods (procedures) developed for analysis, biomass variety, differences in solvents and the part of plants used in the compositional analysis (Ayeni et al., 2015 ). 3.2 Effect of temperature on sugar concentration The hydrolysis experiment was performed at varying temperature between 40–140ºC at different acid concentrations. The concentration of the monomeric sugars and their corresponding degradation products are given in Figs. 2 and 3 . From Fig. 2 , It was observed that there was a steady increase in the concentration of sugars (glucose, xylose and arabinose) as temperature increased from 40–140ºC. It was also deduced from the chart, that optimum sugar concentration was at 140ºC with sugar concentration of 5.317g/L glucose, 2.846g/L xylose and 1.022g/L arabinose. This implies that increase in temperature as high as 140ºC favoured high yield of sugar concentration from the biomass at low acid concentrations. However, the concentration of the degradation products (furfural and HMF) increased initially as the temperature increased but a decline in concentration was noticed for furfural at120-140 ºC. This implies that high temperature and low acid concentrations favours release of C 5 and C 6 sugars of elephant grass with minimum concentration of their degradation products. This result is in accordance with values reported by Diaz-blanco et. al (2018) which showed good sugar recovery on Agave lechuguilla at low acid concentrations (0.29–1.7 wt %) and high temperatures (150–200ºC). This is also similar to results reportedby Cara et al. (2008) on olive tree biomass at acid low acid concentrations (0.2–1.4 wt.%) and high temperatures (170–210ºC). The results in Fig. 3 showed that was a steady increase in the concentration of sugars (glucose, xylose and arabinose) as temperature increased from 40–80ºC followed by a slight decline in sugar concentrations from 80–140ºC. It was also observed, that optimum sugar concentration was obtained at 80ºC with sugar concentrations of 2.949g/L glucose, 1.971g/L xylose and 0.793g/L arabinose. This suggests that increase in temperature as high as 140ºC did not favour high yield of sugar concentration from the biomass at 4.0 wt. % H 2 SO 4 acid concentration. However, the concentration of the degradation products (furfural and HMF) increased steadily as the temperature increased with optimum concentrations at 140 ºC even when slight decline was noticed in sugar concentration at temperatures between 100–140 ºC. This implies that high temperature and high acid concentration did not favour the release of C 5 and C 6 sugars of elephant grass, although feasible for the formation of their degradation products. In comparison, the amount of degradation products of 0.13g/L and 0.18g/L for furfural and HMF at on wheat straw 121ºC (Roberto et al., 2003) were higher than values of the present study as shown in Fig. 4 . 3.2.2 Effect of time on sugar concentration The results from Fig. 4 showed that there was a steady increase in the concentration of sugars as contact time between the acid and the elephant grass biomass increased. The best contact time was noticed at 180 min with sugar concentrations of 5.453 g/L, 2.719 g/L, and 1.016 g/L for glucose, xylose and arabinose respectively. The results imply that increase in contact time at low acid concentrations favoured high yield of sugar concentration from the biomass. The concentration of the degradation products (furfural and HMF) was found to slightly increase with increase in contact time; nevertheless the obtained values are negligible or insignificant when compared with the sugar recovered. This result was in accordance with Martínez-Patiño et al, ( 2017 ) that reported on olive tree biomass (OTB) with values of 9.20 and 23.15 g/L for glucose and xylose at a contact time of 90 mins at low acid concentration of 2 wt.% sulphuric acid. The result from Fig. 5 , showed a steady increase in the concentration of sugars (glucose, xylose and arabinose) as contact time increased from 15–100 min followed by a slight decline in sugar concentrations from 100-180min. It also showed that optimum sugar concentration was obtained at 100 min contact time with sugar concentrations of 3.024 g/L glucose, 2.156 g/L xylose and 0.488 g/L arabinose. This result suggests that increase in contact time as high as 180 min does not favour high yield of sugar concentration from the biomass at 4.0wt. % H 2 SO 4 acid concentration. However, the concentration of the degradation products (furfural and HMF) increased steadily as contact time increased with optimum concentrations of the degradation products obtained at 180 min even when slight decline was noticed in the sugar concentration at contact time between 100–180 mins. This result is similar with results obtained by Iram et. al ( 2019 )who reported on distiller dried grains DDGS, revealing that at 88.6 min contact time, concentrations of 81 g/L, 103g/L, 4.6 g/L 1.9 g/L for glucose, xylose, furfural and HMF respectively at an acid concentration of 5 wt.% sulphuric acid were obtained 3.2.3 Effect of acid concentration on sugar concentration In general, the experimental results showed that a significant amount of fermentable sugars were found in the hydrolysates, especially glucose and xylose. It can be deduced from the results, that acid concentration is one factor which played a critical role in the release of sugars from the elephant grass biomass. For instance, at a temperature of 140ºC concentrations of 5.317 g/L glucose, 2.486 g/L xylose and 1.022 g/L arabinose were obtained when 0.4 wt. % H 2 SO 4 was used and the concentration of this sugars were noticed to be comparatively lower at the same temperature with 4.0 wt. % of the acid and this trend was consistently noticed with other temperature throughout the hydrolysis experiment. The experimental result is in agreement with the report by Paniagua-García et al ( 2016 ),on switch grass which showed that at 0.16–1.84 wt% sulphuric acid, significant concentrations of fermentable sugars are obtainable and of higher value when compared with this present study. Similarly, the contact time also revealed a degree of dependence on acid concentration with respect to the yield of sugar during hydrolysis. For instance, with 0.4 wt. % H 2 SO 4 the concentration of the sugar obtained from the earlier contact time of 15–98 min were noticed to be higher than those obtained with 4.0 wt. % H 2 SO 4 at similar range of contact time.A higher yield of sugar has been reported a lower time of 30minutes (Paniagua-García et al., 2016 ). Furthermore, the researchers showed that release of pentose and hexose is favoured by low acid concentration and high temperature. In this study, it was observed that high acid concentration also did not favour the formation of C 5 and C 6 sugars but favoured the formation of degradation products from the elephant grass biomass. 3.3 Total pentose and hexose sugars of elephant grass The summation of sugars obtained at optimum conditions for both acid concentrations (0.4 and 4 wt. %) are presented in Fig. 6 . It was observed that the total amount of sugars recovered from 0.4 wt. % H 2 SO 4 at optimum condition was comparatively higher than the total sugar using 4.0 wt. % H 2 SO 4 acid concentrations. It also showed that that the concentration of hexose sugar (glucose) was always higher than that of the pentose sugars (xylose and arabinose) in all experimental conditions. This further confirms that lower concentration of H 2 SO 4 favours better release of simple sugars. In this research, more glucose (hexoses) were released more than the pentoses (xylose and arabinose) sugars in all temperatures employed which is in agreement with results obtained in the literature (Olaitan, 2013).The levels of the other inhibitory compounds (furfural and HMF) were also significantly lower than those reported to cause inhibition of xylose fermentation, suggesting that the hydrolysates obtained in the present work could be used as feedstock for production and fermentative processes. (Roberto et al 2003). It should also be noted that Sugar-degradation products formation is therefore not only of importance for overall sugar yield optimization but also for optimal application of enzymes and the application of the sugars in fermentation processes (Smitsa et al ., 2019) Hence the above analysis showed that the release of sugar is a function of the acid concentration. Values from optimum sugar concentrations in both acid concentrations the was subjected to statistical analysis, the correlation studies showed that the correlation coefficient value r , for sugars recovered at optimum conditions for both acid concentrations were 0.993 and 0.991. 3.4 Surface morphology of elephants grass In Fig. 7, the surface morphology of the biomass before hydrolysis, is more compact and smooth compared with the biomass structure after hydrolysis, showing a less compact and rough surfaces This infers that the various hydrolysis conditions employed in optimizing the process had an impact on the morphology of the biomass which serves as evidence that the rigid lignocellulose structure was broken and sugars were actually released in the course of the hydrolysis process. This in in agreement with the report in the literatures (Kamarullah et al., 2015 ;Fonseca et al, 2014 ) Also the SEM images showed that hydrolysis with 0.4 wt. % H 2 SO 4 produced more pores on the surface structure of the biomass due to a more efficient release of sugar in the biomass when compared to the SEM images of the biomass hydrolysed by 4.0 wt. % H 2 SO 4 . This further confirms that low acid concentration in conjunction with contact time and temperature had greater effects on the structural changes on the surface of the plant biomass. Thus, a progressive exposure of the cellulose micro-fibrils can be observed, as the degree of the hydrolysate solubilisation increases. Similarly, results obtained by Scholl et al, ( 2015 ) revealed that elephant grass hydrolysed via steam explosions showed destructuration on structural fibers. 3.5 Functional group analysis Table 1 shows the FTIR spectra of untreated samples, 0.4% H 2 SO 4 and 4% H 2 SO 4 hydrolysed samples. Thepeaks were observed at 3392.20, 3416.05, 3385.18 cm − 1 in untreated, 0.4% H 2 SO 4 and 4% H 2 SO 4 hydrolysed elephant grassrespectively, which indicated the presence of intermolecular hydrogen bonding. 0.4% H 2 SO 4 hydrolsed sampleshifted to higher absorption frequency values than untreated sample. The intermolecular hydrogen bonding wasidentified in the lignin, cellulose, and hemicelluloses structure. Furthermore, peaks were also observed at 2918.40, 2918.40, and 2920 cm-1 in untreated, 0.4% H 2 SO 4 and 4% H 2 SO 4 hydrolysed samples respectively. At this range, the C-H stretching from alkanes group was identified and sp 3 C-H absorption occurred. The FTIR bands at 2918–2920 cm − 1 corresponded to lignin composition. Thus, FTIR studies revealed the similarity of bond type for untreated samples, 0.4% H 2 SO 4 and 4% H 2 SO 4 hydrolysed samples, indicating also a structural transformation in the biomass Kamarullahet al, ( 2015 ) also recorded similar bands for studies on elephant grass after hydrolysis using acetic acid and soduim hydroxide. Table1: FT-IR analysis of elephant grass biomass and residues at 0.4 and 4.0 wt. % H 2 SO 4 Conclusion The optimization study of the hydrolysis of elephant grass catalyzed by sulfuric acid allowed the maximum release of various sugars which can be used as feed stock for second generation fuels, bio-based chemicals and other bio-products. The highest concentration of sugars (glucose, xylose and arabinose) was at a temperature of 140 ᴼC, an acid concentration of 0.4% and a contact time of 20 min. The information in this study indicates elephant grass is a promising raw material for the production of bio-based chemicals and products. Declarations CONFLICT OF INTEREST VERIFICATION The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this manuscript. No financial, personal, or professional interests influenced the outcomes and interpretations presented in this study. All authors have approved the final manuscript and agree with its submission CHEMISTRY AFRICA. Funding: Not applicable. Ethical approval: Not applicable. Informed consent: Not applicable. Order of authors: Ogunsuyi, Helen Olayinka and Olu-Egbor, Oseyomon Gabriel References Ayeni,O.A., Opeyemi A. Adeeyo, O.A., Oyinlola M. Oresegun, O.M., TemitayoE.Oladimeji, T.E., (2015). Compositional analysis of lignocellulosic materials: Evaluation of an economically viable method suitable for woody and non-woody biomass American Journal of Engineering Research (AJER) eVolume-4, Issue-4, pp-14-19 Association of Analytical Communities.AOAC Official Method (2002). 2001.11. 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Pretreatment and conversion of distiller’s dried grains with solubles for acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) production. Trans. ASABE 52, 885–892. Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Supplementary Files FT.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4556471","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":312511499,"identity":"ce8039d2-f5d3-4614-95a8-9a24f8d84a11","order_by":0,"name":"Ogunsuyi, Helen Olayinka","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"The Federal University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Helen","middleName":"Olayinka","lastName":"Ogunsuyi","suffix":""},{"id":312511500,"identity":"70aee054-984c-4f8c-8b51-9c66285a216c","order_by":1,"name":"Olu-Egbor, Oseyomon Gabriel","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABDElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFACHgaGBAYLBj4gkxmI5UBiBx4Q1iLBwAbVYgzWkkBICwOSlsQGEB+fFnn3s8c+PKiQkGOTSD78uqDiXvr8sMMPgbbYyek2YNdieCYveUbCGQljNom0NOsZZ4pzN95OMwBqSTY2O4BDS0OOMUNimwQQ5ZgZ87Yl5G6cnQDSciBxGy4t/W+AWv6BtOR/A2lJN5yd/gGvFnkJkC0NYFuYHwO1JMhL5+C3xUDiXTJDwjGgX3iemTHPOJNguEE6p+BAggFuv8j35x5m/FFjI8fPnvz4c0FFgrz87PTNHz5U2Mnh0mKAJM4mgRAxwK4cbEsDgs38AV1kFIyCUTAKRgEIAAAnY12VVP1WjgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3675-3667","institution":"Edo Flood Erosion and Watershed Management Agency","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Oseyomon","middleName":"Gabriel","lastName":"Olu-Egbor","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-06-10 07:39:33","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4556471/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4556471/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":58131948,"identity":"dd81acad-0958-4ae4-9cba-d92ed257821a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-06-11 14:45:25","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":13376,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003ePreliminary compositions of various portions of elephant grass biomass\u003cstrong\u003e (%)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4556471/v1/ee9edca6c457cd668ae46c7a.png"},{"id":58131951,"identity":"598aeb86-a0fc-45c8-902b-a5a0283d6fec","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-06-11 14:45:25","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":8605,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eEffect of sugar concentration (g/L) of hydrolysate with temperature at 0.4 wt % H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4556471/v1/81e9b709d5f02082a754a54b.png"},{"id":58131949,"identity":"d6e10ecf-140e-4a56-a5a3-416b5b7a8e84","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-06-11 14:45:25","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":9868,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eEffect of sugar concentration (g/L) of\u0026nbsp; hydrolysate with temperature at 0.4 wt % H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4556471/v1/f5f303d38aeffdcf10940759.png"},{"id":58131953,"identity":"2e515b7a-85fd-439f-aede-b08c8a8b0a4c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-06-11 14:45:25","extension":"png","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":8956,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eVariation in sugar concentrations (g/L) with contact time at 0.4% H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"4.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4556471/v1/2d7452bc450b401dc01c4ea2.png"},{"id":58132672,"identity":"ef3ad031-de52-40e1-a77a-5f251c88cbd6","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-06-11 14:53:25","extension":"png","order_by":5,"title":"Figure 5","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":10202,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eVariation in sugar concentrations (g/L) with contact time at 4.0% H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"5.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4556471/v1/73ce53b3b3e79cd13f55fc4b.png"},{"id":58132673,"identity":"0525e7af-f1cd-4812-9ce2-4ef037568097","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-06-11 14:53:25","extension":"png","order_by":6,"title":"Figure 6","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":8111,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eTotal sugars (pentoses and hexoses) concentrations (g/L) at 0.4 and 4.0 wt. % H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"6.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4556471/v1/a48664c876a7046f7daabba5.png"},{"id":58131955,"identity":"dc1b0058-58ad-4b3b-9abe-f4ff36ff8995","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-06-11 14:45:26","extension":"png","order_by":7,"title":"Figure 7","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":393890,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003esurface morphology of elephant grass before and after hydrolysis\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"7.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4556471/v1/7209b14aef514ca88b5f2824.png"},{"id":58133394,"identity":"5fdea439-36f3-48be-a239-4703ba557096","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-06-11 15:01:26","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1118995,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4556471/v1/5251e3df-4319-4e03-97b7-98a0614fc63d.pdf"},{"id":58131956,"identity":"7ee7de02-aeaa-4dca-bfb8-a53cc3b67e9f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-06-11 14:45:26","extension":"docx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":444047,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"FT.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4556471/v1/7a26371aabd13bf58a75a514.docx"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDilute Acid Hydrolysis for Optimization of Sugar Concentrations Frompennisetum Purpureum: a Conventional Approach\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[{"header":"1. Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe low cost and renewable nature of lignocellulosic biomass make it an ideal feedstock which can serve as platforms for the production of different value-added bio-products and chemicals by various biotechnological processes. The bio-based chemicals obtained from lignocellulosic biomass are more environmentally friendly when compared to petrochemicals (Mantanis et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2000\u003c/span\u003e; Mussatto and Teixeira \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e). Grass is the world\u0026rsquo;s cheapest lignocellulosic biomass, often treated as weeds or feeds for animals and whose value has not been fully realized. However, grasses are capable of becoming a potential feedstock for the production of bio-based chemicals because of their high availability and accessibility. Most tropical countries have high potential to grow cellulosic elephant grass due to their solar radiation, diversity of climatic zones and biodiversity (Elian et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e). Elephant grass has been noted as a promising feedstock for various bio-products because of their prolific yields, zero cultivation costs, ability to thrive on low quality land and low environmental impact (Strezovet al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR35\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2008\u003c/span\u003e). Elephant grass has a fast growing rate and is harvested approximately four times annually. In addition, the composition of elephant grass, which is approximately 30\u0026ndash;40% cellulose and 25\u0026ndash;30% hemicecullose, makes it a strong potential source of carbohydrates (Aiyejagbara et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e).It also a promising raw material for sugar recovery especially the monosaccharides which have formed the basis for researchers for biofuel production such as bioethanol and. It is a high potential energy crop due to its high sugar content compared with other biomass raw materials such as cassava, sugarcane and coconut. Currently, various established physical, chemical, thermal and biological hydrolysis/ pre-treatment technologies as well as their combinations have been employed to make grasses susceptible to further chemical, enzymatic and microbial conversions which further improves the chances of grasses being a promising feedstock for sugar recovery, boosting the chances of producing higher quantities of bio-based chemical and making bio-refining processes more economical (Chandel et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e). Hydrolysis of grass biomass using dilute acid solutions has been studied by several researchers (Ngyuen et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1999\u003c/span\u003e; Kim et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2000\u003c/span\u003e; Neureiter et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2002\u003c/span\u003e). The results obtained were dependent on the raw material type and operational conditions employed. Hydrolysis of most biomass involves solubilization and partial destruction of the sugars produced. As a consequence, the amount of sugars recovered from the raw material is dependent on the contact time, temperature and acid concentration (Pessoa et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1996\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis article will discuss the optimization of process variables of hydrolysis for quantitative recovery of pentose,C\u003csub\u003e5\u003c/sub\u003e and hexose,C\u003csub\u003e6\u003c/sub\u003e monomeric sugars from the hydrolysate of the elephant grass biomass with minimum concentration of inhibitory products.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"2. Materials and methods","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e2.1 Sample collection and preparation\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSamples of Elephant grass were collected from OritaObele, off Ire-Akari Estate, Akure, Ondo State. All samples were then sun-dried for three weeks. The dried biomass samples were milled separately using a mechanical miller and sieved to obtain 2mm mesh size particles of the various plant portions.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e2.2 Characterization elephant grass\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe various of samples of elephant grass(were analyzed according to standard procedures for crude protein (method AOAC 2001.11), fat (method AOAC 2003.06), ash (method AOAC 942.05), moisture (method AOAC 935.29), crude fibre, extractable (NREL\u0026ndash;TP\u0026ndash;510\u0026ndash;42619), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) (method AOAC 2002.04), and acid detergent fiber (ADF) (method AOAC 973.18). All samples were analyzed in triplicates.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec5\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e2.3 Hydrolysis of elephant grass\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eHomogenous samples of elephant grass were hydrolysed at acid concentrations of 0.4 and 4.0 wt% H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e using a percolating reactor with adequate liquid circulation. The mixture was carried out in the ratio of 1:47(W/W) of sample to acid.. The prepared acid solution is percolated through a bed of the coarse fiber placed in a basket in the digester. The percolated liquid drains through the bottom and is recirculated to the top of the basket, passing through a heater using a pump. The heater is controlled through a heat regulator.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec6\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e2.4 Scanning electron microscopy\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAll the elephant grass samples were allowed to dry and their surface morphologies were studied before and after hydrolysis. The elephant grass samples were mounted onto the stub and coated in gold using the sputter coaters and then viewed under the Scanning Electron Microscope (Phenom ProX Model).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec7\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e2.5 Functional group analysis\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFourier Transform Infra-red analysis was performed to determine the change in functional groups of the non hydrolysed and acid-hydrolysed elephant grass biomass using Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. The sample was scanned at a resolution of 4 cm\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e in the frequency range of 4000\u0026ndash; 500 cm\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e. The spectra were recorded on a computer using the software Spectrum for Windows, Perkin-Elmer\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec8\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e2.6 Optimization of sugar concentrations\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe optimum conditions to achieve quantitative recovery of sugar from elephant grass were monitored using the following process variables: acid concentration ( 0.4 and 4.0 wt % H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e), temperature (40\u0026ordm;C, 60\u0026ordm;C, 80\u0026ordm;C, 100\u0026ordm;C, 120\u0026ordm;C and 140\u0026ordm;C) and contact time (15\u0026ndash;180 min).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec9\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e2.7 Analysis\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eHydrolysate samples were analysed for sugar and degradation products using a UV-Spectrophotometer according to the methods of Chi \u003cem\u003eet al.\u003c/em\u003e (2009 and 2013).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"3. Results and discussion","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec11\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e3.1 Preliminary compositions\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe compositions of the elephant grass biomass are seen in Fig. \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e. Each experiment was done in the triplicates; reported results indicate the average values of the replicated experiments.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe results show that the elephant grass have high percentage of fibre and carbohydrates contents of 29% and 41.05% respectively. This result is in accordance with the report by Shittu et al (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e) that recorded almost similar values of 41.18% value for carbohydrates but a lower value of 15.12% for fibre, as reported in elephant grass. The result also revealed that the biomass had an average cellulose and hemicelluloses contents of 23.22% and 17.65% respectively. The results show variance to some degree with the report by shittu et.al (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e) who gave values of 27.98 and 21.99% cellulose and hemicelluloses respectively. Also, the result is not in congruous with values given by Sun and Cheng (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2002\u003c/span\u003e) who reported higher ranges of 25–40% and 35–50% for cellulose and hemicelluloses for grasses. The values are even more lower compared with their study on switch grass with values of 45% and 31.4% for cellulose and hemicellulose (sun and cheng, 2000). It should be noted that biomass compositions are influenced by the factors such as whether woody or non-woody, geographical locations, methods (procedures) developed for analysis, biomass variety, differences in solvents and the part of plants used in the compositional analysis (Ayeni et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec12\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e3.2 Effect of temperature on sugar concentration\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe hydrolysis experiment was performed at varying temperature between 40–140ºC at different acid concentrations. The concentration of the monomeric sugars and their corresponding degradation products are given in Figs. \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e and \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e. From Fig. \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e, It was observed that there was a steady increase in the concentration of sugars (glucose, xylose and arabinose) as temperature increased from 40–140ºC. It was also deduced from the chart, that optimum sugar concentration was at 140ºC with sugar concentration of 5.317g/L glucose, 2.846g/L xylose and 1.022g/L arabinose. This implies that increase in temperature as high as 140ºC favoured high yield of sugar concentration from the biomass at low acid concentrations. However, the concentration of the degradation products (furfural and HMF) increased initially as the temperature increased but a decline in concentration was noticed for furfural at120-140 ºC. This implies that high temperature and low acid concentrations favours release of C\u003csub\u003e5\u003c/sub\u003e and C\u003csub\u003e6\u003c/sub\u003e sugars of elephant grass with minimum concentration of their degradation products. This result is in accordance with values reported by Diaz-blanco \u003cem\u003eet. al\u003c/em\u003e (2018) which showed good sugar recovery on \u003cem\u003eAgave lechuguilla\u003c/em\u003e at low acid concentrations (0.29–1.7 wt %) and high temperatures (150–200ºC). This is also similar to results reportedby Cara \u003cem\u003eet al.\u003c/em\u003e (2008) on olive tree biomass at acid low acid concentrations (0.2–1.4 wt.%) and high temperatures (170–210ºC). The results in Fig. \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e showed that was a steady increase in the concentration of sugars (glucose, xylose and arabinose) as temperature increased from 40–80ºC followed by a slight decline in sugar concentrations from 80–140ºC. It was also observed, that optimum sugar concentration was obtained at 80ºC with sugar concentrations of 2.949g/L glucose, 1.971g/L xylose and 0.793g/L arabinose. This suggests that increase in temperature as high as 140ºC did not favour high yield of sugar concentration from the biomass at 4.0 wt. % H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e acid concentration. However, the concentration of the degradation products (furfural and HMF) increased steadily as the temperature increased with optimum concentrations at 140 ºC even when slight decline was noticed in sugar concentration at temperatures between 100–140 ºC. This implies that high temperature and high acid concentration did not favour the release of C\u003csub\u003e5\u003c/sub\u003e and C\u003csub\u003e6\u003c/sub\u003e sugars of elephant grass, although feasible for the formation of their degradation products. In comparison, the amount of degradation products of 0.13g/L and 0.18g/L for furfural and HMF at on wheat straw 121ºC (Roberto et al., 2003) were higher than values of the present study as shown in Fig. \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cdiv id=\"Sec13\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e3.2.2 Effect of time on sugar concentration\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe results from Fig. \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e showed that there was a steady increase in the concentration of sugars as contact time between the acid and the elephant grass biomass increased. The best contact time was noticed at 180 min with sugar concentrations of 5.453 g/L, 2.719 g/L, and 1.016 g/L for glucose, xylose and arabinose respectively. The results imply that increase in contact time at low acid concentrations favoured high yield of sugar concentration from the biomass. The concentration of the degradation products (furfural and HMF) was found to slightly increase with increase in contact time; nevertheless the obtained values are negligible or insignificant when compared with the sugar recovered. This result was in accordance with Martínez-Patiño et al, (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e) that reported on olive tree biomass (OTB) with values of 9.20 and 23.15 g/L for glucose and xylose at a contact time of 90 mins at low acid concentration of 2 wt.% sulphuric acid.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe result from Fig. \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e, showed a steady increase in the concentration of sugars (glucose, xylose and arabinose) as contact time increased from 15–100 min followed by a slight decline in sugar concentrations from 100-180min. It also showed that optimum sugar concentration was obtained at 100 min contact time with sugar concentrations of 3.024 g/L glucose, 2.156 g/L xylose and 0.488 g/L arabinose. This result suggests that increase in contact time as high as 180 min does not favour high yield of sugar concentration from the biomass at 4.0wt. % H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e acid concentration. However, the concentration of the degradation products (furfural and HMF) increased steadily as contact time increased with optimum concentrations of the degradation products obtained at 180 min even when slight decline was noticed in the sugar concentration at contact time between 100–180 mins. This result is similar with results obtained by Iram et. al (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e)who reported on distiller dried grains DDGS, revealing that at 88.6 min contact time, concentrations of 81 g/L, 103g/L, 4.6 g/L 1.9 g/L for glucose, xylose, furfural and HMF respectively at an acid concentration of 5 wt.% sulphuric acid were obtained\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv id=\"Sec14\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e3.2.3 Effect of acid concentration on sugar concentration\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIn general, the experimental results showed that a significant amount of fermentable sugars were found in the hydrolysates, especially glucose and xylose. It can be deduced from the results, that acid concentration is one factor which played a critical role in the release of sugars from the elephant grass biomass. For instance, at a temperature of 140ºC concentrations of 5.317 g/L glucose, 2.486 g/L xylose and 1.022 g/L arabinose were obtained when 0.4 wt. % H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e was used and the concentration of this sugars were noticed to be comparatively lower at the same temperature with 4.0 wt. % of the acid and this trend was consistently noticed with other temperature throughout the hydrolysis experiment. The experimental result is in agreement with the report by Paniagua-García et al (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e),on switch grass which showed that at 0.16–1.84 wt% sulphuric acid, significant concentrations of fermentable sugars are obtainable and of higher value when compared with this present study. Similarly, the contact time also revealed a degree of dependence on acid concentration with respect to the yield of sugar during hydrolysis. For instance, with 0.4 wt. % H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e the concentration of the sugar obtained from the earlier contact time of 15–98 min were noticed to be higher than those obtained with 4.0 wt. % H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e at similar range of contact time.A higher yield of sugar has been reported a lower time of 30minutes (Paniagua-García et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e). Furthermore, the researchers showed that release of pentose and hexose is favoured by low acid concentration and high temperature. In this study, it was observed that high acid concentration also did not favour the formation of C\u003csub\u003e5\u003c/sub\u003e and C\u003csub\u003e6\u003c/sub\u003e sugars but favoured the formation of degradation products from the elephant grass biomass.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec15\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e3.3 Total pentose and hexose sugars of elephant grass\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe summation of sugars obtained at optimum conditions for both acid concentrations (0.4 and 4 wt. %) are presented in Fig. \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e. It was observed that the total amount of sugars recovered from 0.4 wt. % H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e at optimum condition was comparatively higher than the total sugar using 4.0 wt. % H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e acid concentrations. It also showed that that the concentration of hexose sugar (glucose) was always higher than that of the pentose sugars (xylose and arabinose) in all experimental conditions. This further confirms that lower concentration of H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e favours better release of simple sugars. In this research, more glucose (hexoses) were released more than the pentoses (xylose and arabinose) sugars in all temperatures employed which is in agreement with results obtained in the literature (Olaitan, 2013).The levels of the other inhibitory compounds (furfural and HMF) were also significantly lower than those reported to cause inhibition of xylose fermentation, suggesting that the hydrolysates obtained in the present work could be used as feedstock for production and fermentative processes. (Roberto et al 2003). It should also be noted that Sugar-degradation products formation is therefore not only of importance for overall sugar yield optimization but also for optimal application of enzymes and the application of the sugars in fermentation processes (Smitsa \u003cem\u003eet al\u003c/em\u003e., 2019)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eHence the above analysis showed that the release of sugar is a function of the acid concentration. Values from optimum sugar concentrations in both acid concentrations the was subjected to statistical analysis, the correlation studies showed that the correlation coefficient value \u003cstrong\u003er\u003c/strong\u003e, for sugars recovered at optimum conditions for both acid concentrations were 0.993 and 0.991.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec16\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e3.4 Surface morphology of elephants grass\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIn Fig. 7, the surface morphology of the biomass before hydrolysis, is more compact and smooth compared with the biomass structure after hydrolysis, showing a less compact and rough surfaces This infers that the various hydrolysis conditions employed in optimizing the process had an impact on the morphology of the biomass which serves as evidence that the rigid lignocellulose structure was broken and sugars were actually released in the course of the hydrolysis process. This in in agreement with the report in the literatures (Kamarullah et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e;Fonseca et al, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAlso the SEM images showed that hydrolysis with 0.4 wt. % H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e produced more pores on the surface structure of the biomass due to a more efficient release of sugar in the biomass when compared to the SEM images of the biomass hydrolysed by 4.0 wt. % H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e. This further confirms that low acid concentration in conjunction with contact time and temperature had greater effects on the structural changes on the surface of the plant biomass. Thus, a progressive exposure of the cellulose micro-fibrils can be observed, as the degree of the hydrolysate solubilisation increases. Similarly, results obtained by Scholl et al, (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e) revealed that elephant grass hydrolysed via steam explosions showed destructuration on structural fibers.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec17\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e3.5 Functional group analysis\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;1 shows the FTIR spectra of untreated samples, 0.4% H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e and 4% H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e hydrolysed samples. Thepeaks were observed at 3392.20, 3416.05, 3385.18 cm\u003csup\u003e− 1\u003c/sup\u003ein untreated, 0.4% H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003eand 4% H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e hydrolysed elephant grassrespectively, which indicated the presence of intermolecular hydrogen bonding. 0.4% H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003ehydrolsed sampleshifted to higher absorption frequency values than untreated sample. The intermolecular hydrogen bonding wasidentified in the lignin, cellulose, and hemicelluloses structure.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFurthermore, peaks were also observed at 2918.40, 2918.40, and 2920 cm-1 in untreated, 0.4% H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e and 4% H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e hydrolysed samples respectively. At this range, the C-H stretching from alkanes group was identified and sp\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e C-H absorption occurred. The FTIR bands at 2918–2920 cm\u003csup\u003e− 1\u003c/sup\u003e corresponded to lignin composition. Thus, FTIR studies revealed the similarity of bond type for untreated samples, 0.4% H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e and 4% H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e hydrolysed samples, indicating also a structural transformation in the biomass Kamarullahet al, (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e) also recorded similar bands for studies on elephant grass after hydrolysis using acetic acid and soduim hydroxide.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable1:\u003c/strong\u003e FT-IR analysis of elephant grass biomass and residues at 0.4 and 4.0 wt. % H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003csub\u003e\u003cimg 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\"\u003e\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe optimization study of the hydrolysis of elephant grass catalyzed by sulfuric acid allowed the maximum release of various sugars which can be used as feed stock for second generation fuels, bio-based chemicals and other bio-products. The highest concentration of sugars (glucose, xylose and arabinose) was at a temperature of 140 ᴼC, an acid concentration of 0.4% and a contact time of 20 min. The information in this study indicates elephant grass is a promising raw material for the production of bio-based chemicals and products.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCONFLICT OF INTEREST VERIFICATION\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this manuscript. No financial, personal, or professional interests influenced the outcomes and interpretations presented in this study. All authors have approved the final manuscript and agree with its submission CHEMISTRY AFRICA.\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding: Not applicable.\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEthical approval: \u0026nbsp;Not applicable.\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInformed consent: \u0026nbsp;Not applicable.\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOrder of authors:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOgunsuyi, Helen Olayinka and Olu-Egbor, Oseyomon Gabriel\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eAyeni,O.A., Opeyemi A. Adeeyo, O.A., Oyinlola M. Oresegun, O.M., TemitayoE.Oladimeji, T.E., (2015). 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Pretreatment and conversion of distiller\u0026rsquo;s dried grains with solubles for acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) production. Trans. ASABE 52, 885\u0026ndash;892.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"hydrolysis, sugars, elephant grass","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4556471/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4556471/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe present study was conducted for the optimization of process variables used for the acid hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass, \u003cem\u003ePennisteum purpureum\u003c/em\u003e (Elephant grass) which is a renewable resource that can be used for the generation of bio-based chemicals. This research used dilute sulphuric acid as a catalyst for hydrolysis of elephant grass. The study was aimed at investigating the viability of elephant grass to generate hexose and pentose sugars which are major feedstock for the production of bio-based chemicals. The process variables such as acid concentration, temperature and contact time were varied and effect of these parameters on the production of sugars (xylose, glucose and arabinose) as well as on the formation of degradation products (furfural and hydroxymethylfurfural) in the hydrolysate (hemicellulosic fraction) were studied. From the preliminary analysis, each portion of the elephant grass had an average value of 38.56% and 16.14% for carbohydrates and hemicellulose contents respectively. The optimum conditions of 0.4 wt % H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e, 140 \u0026ordm;C, 180 minutes for acid concentration, temperature and contact time respectively was found. Under these conditions, the hydrolysate contained 5.453 g/L glucose, 2.719 g/L xylose, 1.106 g/L arabinose, 0.02195 g/L furfural and 0.0153 g/L 5-hydroxymethylfurfural.For effective production of sugar from elephant grass biomass high concentration of acid was found not favourable for the hydrolysis of the biomass. The conditions under which the experiment was conducted confirmed the possibility of generating pentose and hexose sugars from elephant grass with the potential of being used as feedstock for producing bio-based chemicals and products.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Dilute Acid Hydrolysis for Optimization of Sugar Concentrations Frompennisetum Purpureum: a Conventional Approach","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-06-11 14:45:21","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4556471/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"6db6d99f-655a-40b5-ae42-a7bf38251d76","owner":[],"postedDate":"June 11th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":33086756,"name":"Renewable Resources"},{"id":33086757,"name":"Biotechnology and Bioengineering"},{"id":33086758,"name":"Environmental Chemistry"},{"id":33086759,"name":"Chemical Engineering"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-06-11T14:45:21+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-06-11 14:45:21","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-4556471","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-4556471","identity":"rs-4556471","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}