Pretreatment and saccharification of red macroalgae to produce fermentable sugars.
Red macroalgae are currently considered as renewable resources owing to their high carbohydrate and low lignin and hemicellulose contents. However, utilization of red macroalgae has been limited owing to the lack of established methods for pretreatment and an effective saccharification system. Furthermore, marine red macroalgae consist of the non-favorable mixed sugars for industrial microorganisms. In this review, we suggest strategies for converting red macroalgae to bio-based products, focusing on the pretreatment and saccharification of red macroalgae to produce fermentable sugars and the microbial fermentation of these sugars by industrial microorganisms. In particular, some recent breakthroughs for the efficient utilization of red macroalgae include the discovery of key enzymes for the complete monomerization of red macroalgal carbohydrate and the catabolic pathway of 3,6-anhydro-l-galactose, the most abundant sugar in red macroalgae. This review provides a comprehensive perspective for the efficient utilization of red macroalgae as sustainable resources to produce bio-based products.
Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School, Korea University, Seoul 136-713, Republic of Korea.
Eun Ju
EJ
Yun
Center for Bio-based Chemistry, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, Daejeon 305-600, Republic of Korea.
Hee Taek
HT
Kim
Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School, Korea University, Seoul 136-713, Republic of Korea.
Kyung Mun
KM
Cho
Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School, Korea University, Seoul 136-713, Republic of Korea.
Sora
S
Yu
Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School, Korea University, Seoul 136-713, Republic of Korea.
Sooah
S
Kim
Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School, Korea University, Seoul 136-713, Republic of Korea.
In-Geol
IG
Choi
Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School, Korea University, Seoul 136-713, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: khekim@korea.ac.kr.
Kyoung Heon
KH
Kim
D018533:Biomass; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D005285:Fermentation; D008031:Lignin / Q000378:metabolism; D012624:Seaweed / Q000378:metabolism*
D008031:Lignin
Agar; Carrageenan; Pretreatment; Red macroalgae; Saccharification