title: Liquid nitrogen pretreatment of eucalyptus sawdust and rice hull for enhanced enzymatic saccharification.
abstract: In this work, liquid nitrogen was used for the first time in the pretreatment of plant biomasses for purposes of enzymatic saccharification. After treatment (cryocrushing), the initial rates of the enzymatic hydrolysis of eucalyptus sawdust and rice hull were increased more than ten-fold. Cryocrushing did not modify significantly the contents of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin in both eucalyptus sawdust and rice hulls. However, substantial disorganization of the lignocellulosic materials in consequence of the pretreatment could be observed by electron microscopy. Cryocrushing was highly efficient in improving the saccharification of the holocellulose component of the plant biomasses (from 4.3% to 54.1% for eucalyptus sawdust and from 3.9% to 40.6% for rice hull). It is important to emphasize that it consists in a simple operation with low requirements of water and chemicals, no corrosion, no release of products such as soluble phenolics, furfural and hydroxymethylfurfural and no waste generation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, State University of Maringá, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Castoldi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, State University of Maringá, Brazil.
authors.forename: Vanesa G
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Correa
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, State University of Maringá, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gutierrez Rodrigues
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: de Morais
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, State University of Maringá, Brazil.
authors.forename: Cristina G M
authors.initials: CGM
authors.lastname: de Souza
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, State University of Maringá, Brazil.
authors.forename: Adelar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bracht
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rosely A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Peralta
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil.
authors.forename: Regina F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Peralta-Muniz Moreira
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, State University of Maringá, Brazil. Electronic address: rosanemperalta@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Rosane M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Peralta
mesh_terms: D018533:Biomass; D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry; D005052:Eucalyptus / Q000737:chemistry*; D006868:Hydrolysis; D008031:Lignin / Q000032:analysis; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D012275:Oryza / Q000737:chemistry*; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry; D014934:Wood / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D011134:Polysaccharides; C007916:hemicellulose; D002482:Cellulose; D008031:Lignin; D009584:Nitrogen
keywords: Cryocrushing; Eucalyptus sawdust; Liquid nitrogen pretreatment; Rice hull; Saccharification