title: Rapeseed-straw enzymatic digestibility enhancement by sodium hydroxide treatment under ultrasound irradiation.
abstract: In this study, we carried out sodium hydroxide and sonication pretreatments of rapeseed straw (Brassica napus) to obtain monosugar suitable for production of biofuels. To optimize the pretreatment conditions, we applied a statistical response-surface methodology. The optimal pretreatment conditions using sodium hydroxide under sonication irradiation were determined to be 75.0 °C, 7.0 % sodium hydroxide, and 6.8 h. For these conditions, we predicted 97.3 % enzymatic digestibility. In repeated experiments to validate the predicted value, 98.9 ± 0.3 % enzymatic digestibility was obtained, which was well within the range of the predicted model. Moreover, sonication irradiation was found to have a good effect on pretreatment in the lower temperature range and at all concentrations of sodium hydroxide. According to scanning electron microscopy images, the surface area and pore size of the pretreated rapeseed straw were modified by the sodium hydroxide pretreatment under sonication irradiation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, South Korea.
authors.forename: Kyeong Eop
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Gwi-Taek
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.forename: Don-Hee
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D056804:Biofuels; D018533:Biomass; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D029741:Brassica rapa / Q000737:chemistry*; D006868:Hydrolysis; D008031:Lignin / Q000737:chemistry; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D012972:Sodium Hydroxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D013010:Sonication; D013499:Surface Properties; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors; D014465:Ultrasonics
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; C036909:lignocellulose; D012972:Sodium Hydroxide; D008031:Lignin