Conversion of Sweet Sorghum Straw to Sugars by Dilute Acid Saccharification

This study was focused on hydrolysis of sweet sorghum straw using dilute acid pretreatment. The biomass loading was 10 % w/v and the pretreatment parameters, concentration of sulfuric acid (0-3 % v/v), temperatures (120-190 degrees C) and residence times (10-30 min) were investigated. The monomeric sugars (glucose, xylose, galactose, arabinose, mannose) in hydrolyzate were analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography. The maximum yield of glucose and xylose from sweet sorghum straw was 0.234 g glucose/g dry substrate and 0.208 g xylose/g dry substrate, respectively, at the pretreatment condition: 120 degrees C, 3 % H2SO4 for 10 min. In this case, a total of 50.04 % of glucan and 76.41 % of xylan were converted to glucose and xylose, respectively.