Microwave Pretreatment of Sugarcane Trash and Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch with an Aluminum Sulfate Catalyst for Improvement of Sugar Recovery

This study evaluates the microwave pretreatment of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) trash and oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) to yield- reducing sugars using Al-2(SO4)(3) as the catalyst and water as the medium. Pretreatment using 1% oxalic acid was also carried out to compare the total reducing sugar yield for both biomasses. The effects of the pretreatment on the changes in functional groups, crystallinity, and surface morphology of the biomass are discussed. Microwave heating of sugarcane trash and OPEFB particles at 180 degrees C for 5 min with and without the addition of 100 and 200 mu mol/g biomass of Al-2(SO4)(3) catalyst were performed, and the total reducing sugar yield from the pretreatment hydrolysate and the enzymatic hydrolysis was improved, recorded as 0.56 and 0.51 g/g of initial biomass, respectively, representing 88.8 and 81.6% of the theoretical yield. The use of 1% oxalic acid in the pretreatment of sugarcane trash and OPEFB yielded different results of total reducing sugar yield as the two biomasses behaved differently. [GRAPHICS] .