Production of Xylose from Pre-treated Husk of Areca Nut

Pre-treatment of biomass is a preordained phase for the fragmentation of lignocellulosic biomass to its basic constituents such as lignin and carbohydrate molecules. Existing pre-treatment technologies can extract the desirable chemicals from biomass, however, the choice of biomass is a challenge. The present study worked on husk generated after removing the nut from Areca fruit. The husks are the by-product resulting from the cultivation of Areca nut fruit. The present study focused on the comparison of biochemical characterization of this organic waste biomass before and after the acid and alkali pre-treatment process. Characterization includes thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR), and quantitative analysis of extractives. The present study revealed that the Areca husk fiber contained 29.17% hemicellulose which can be explored as a low-cost source of xylose.