On an available pretreatment for the enzymatic saccharification of lignocellulosic materials

In order to aim at a proved pretreatment for the enzymatic saccharification of lignocellulosic materials, the combined effect of the steam explosion treatment and the newly added alkali-hydrogen peroxide treatment was investigated, As a result, the following findings were obtained from comparison of the saccharification ratio (%) among the materials used: 1) Marked differences based on the lignocellulosic species characteristic of biological materials were observed. 2) Lignocellulosic samples such as rice straw, poplar, and maple chips gave enzymatic saccharification ratio (%) close to 100% by using the samples obtained after extraction with various solvents without alkali-hydrogen peroxide treatment. 3) Chip samples such as Japanese larch, loblolly pine, and Japanese cypress gave the very low enzymatic saccharification ratio (%) of 20-40% after the steam explosion and extraction with various solvents. 4) In comparison with enzymatic saccharification ratio (%) of original samples treated with Steam explosion, alkali-hydrogen peroxide treatment resulted in greater effect based on the treatment of 2-2.5 times. 5) Alkali-hydrogen peroxide treatment afforded remarkable effects based on the treatment of the softwoods, such as Japanese larch and loblolly pine.