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Passiflora edulis is an exotic fruit found in limited parts of India. The pulp of the fruit is mainly consumed while the rind and seeds are discarded. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the physicochemical, nutritional, antioxidant and antibacterial properties of unused rind and seeds from yellow passion fruit (YPF) and purple passion fruit (PPF) collected from Northeast India. Physical investigation of biomass showed low ash and moisture content. Elements like K, Ca and Mg were the major macro elements present in both YPF and PPF rind and seed. A significant quantity of vitamin C, carbohydrate and reducing sugar was observed in the rinds, whereas total protein content was predominant in seeds. Methanolic extract of the rind of YPF showed the highest TPC and TFC followed by acetone extracts. High antioxidant activity (DPPH scavenging, ABTS (2,2-azinobis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) and metal chelating) were displayed by methanolic and acetone extracts from rinds and seeds. The global antioxidant score was mathematically calculated to classify the best extract among the rind and seed samples. The presence of gallic acid, p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, quercetin, myercetin and kaempferol in different extracts of YPF and PPF was confirmed from HPLC analysis. Gallic acid was found ranging from 17.52–83.00 mg/g, where flavonol glycosides were found ranging from 1.64–10.84 mg/g in both YPF and PPF rind and seed extract. Methanolic extracts of seeds showed the best antibacterial activity against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, followed by rind extracts. The obtained findings could help understand the nutritional and therapeutic values of passion fruit from Northeast India for their food and pharmaceutical applications.

Attached cultivation system has emerged as a cost-effective approach for the cultivation of microalgae. However, few microalgae species are still restricted to grow as biofilm due to the lack of adhesive element known as extracellular polymeric substance (EPS). The main objective of our study is to develop a novel attached cultivation strategy for EPS-lacking microalgae, Scenedesmus sp. DDVG I. We also aimed to identify cost-effective substratum showing good performance for biofilm growth. The approach was experimentally studied by conditioning a variety of substrata with EPS derived on varying days from cyanobacteria, Limnothrix sp. DDVG II. The EPS-coated substrata were used for the attached cultivation system of Scenedesmus sp. Additionally, we compared the biochemical properties of the EPS matrix derived on varying days using different extraction methods, their performance on adhesion strength, and microalgal growth. As a result, rough substrata were highly prone to the colonization of the EPS matrix than the normal one. The EPS derived from 12-day-old Limnothrix sp. culture (EPS-12) showed the highest potential on adhesion strength. Rough substrata coated with EPS-12 showed the maximum growth of Scenedesmus sp. DDVG I as a biofilm. Among the rough substrata, rough polylactic acid (rPLA) sheet coated with EPS-12 was found to be the best substratum showing the highest adhesion capability of 94.60 ± 4.2% and the maximum aerial biomass productivity of 31.6 ± 1.20 g/m2/day. The results indicate that EPS-lacking Scenedesmus sp. can be cultured with the attached cultivation technique to improve its biomass productivity.

The objective of this study is to evaluate and compare the quality of oils extracted from yellow and purple passion fruit seeds endemic to Northeast India. In this context, physicochemical properties (acid value, iodine value, etc), thermo physical analysis such as TGA and DSC was performed. Further, the antioxidant properties of seed oils were determined by TPC, TFC, DPPH and ABTS.+ analysis and their interrelation was analysed from Pearson correlation. Lower acid value (2–4.4 mg KOH g−1) and peroxide value (4.2–4.5 mg eq 1000 g−1) confirmed the good quality of oil. The thermal stability of different oils was found to be in the high range of 334.4 °C to 349.5 °C. Fatty acid composition of oils by GC analysis revealed abundance presence of approximately 70% of PUFA and the calculated oxidizability value suggested high oxidative stability in the oils. The universal oil quality score was observed to be high (>50%) when compared to other standard edible oil. Lowest radical inhibitory concentration was observed in yellow passion fruit seed oil from Manipur (70.7 ± 1.7 µg/ml in DPPH and 85.3 ± 5.5 µg/ml in ABTS). Profound antibacterial activity of oils was observed against K. Pneumonia (7.5 ± 0.35 to 12 ± 0.7 cm), B. Subtilis (5 ± 0.7 to 11 ± 0.7 cm), P. aeruginosa (2 to 11.5 ± 0.7 cm) and M. luteus (5 to 10 ± 0.7 cm). This work could add more information on uncommon passion fruit seed oil from Northeast India and further employ in various food and pharmaceutical sectors.

In this work, physicochemical properties and rheological behaviour of waste cooking oil (WCO), castor oil (CO), rubber seed oil (RSO) and their methyl esters (ME), as well as ME blends (5, 10 and 15 vol%) with diesel fuel were investigated. Rheological properties of samples were measured in the range of 25–80 °C temperature and 5–300 s−1 shear rate. Similarly, rheological behaviour of WCO, CO and RSO based methyl esters (WCOME, COME, ROSME) and its blends (5, 10, and 15 vol%) with diesel fuel were also studied. Power law model was used to study the flow behaviour of all the samples. The viscosity behaviour of oils (WCO, CO and RSO), methyl esters (WCOME, COME and RSOME) and their blends with diesel fuel showed Newtonian nature in the temperature range of 25–80 °C. The viscosity values of the chemically modified oil samples (via transesterification) were found to be lower than the original oil samples. However, WCO, CO and their methyl esters showed a slight deviation from Newtonian behaviour between shear rate intervals of 5–100 s−1. The dynamic viscosity of RSO (25.58 mPa.s) was less than that of WCO (49.91 mPa.s) and CO (338.08 mPa.s). At 40 °C, the kinematic viscosity values of RSOME (3.81 mm2/s) and WCOME (3.36 mm2/s) were lower than the value of COME (10.59 mm2/s). The dynamic viscosities of the samples were found to be dependent on fatty acids chain length, unsaturation and temperature. According to fatty acid composition and physicochemical properties of the oils samples, WCO, CO and RSO are suitable for substituting edible feedstock to make biodiesel production sustainable. The fuel properties of the methyl esters and their blends with diesel were estimated as per ASTM D6751 biodiesel standards.

A spontaneous micro emulsifying carrier system has been designed for enhanced solubility and low surfactant to ginger oleoresin ratio. A range of food-grade excipients was studied, followed by constructing pseudoternary diagrams and optimization by D-optimal mixture design. The final formulation contained 45.5 wt% ginger oleoresin, which was stable for 90 days in accelerated storage, and its water dispersion was stable for 24 h. The mean droplet size was 47.7 nm, with −13.02 mV zeta potential and polydispersity index of 0.22. The in-vitro release study of the developed formulation in a wide range of pH confirmed an enhancement by a minimum of 79.8 % in the solubility of ginger actives over pure ginger oleoresin. Finally, incorporation of the developed formulation in a candied mango product resulted in a substantial enhancement of the flavor, nutraceutical profile, and 90 days in shelf-life at 25 °C when compared with the non-treated product.

The primary motivation behind this study was to explore the energy potential of the residual defatted microalgae biomass by anaerobic co-digestion with rice straw (RS). Two defatted microalgae species Chlorella CG12 and Desmodesmus GS12 were co-digested with RS at C/N ratio of 30. A considerable cumulative biomethane yield of 382 mL/g-VS obtained in the co-digestion of CG12 + RS followed by GS12 + RS (311 mL/g-VS) shows 49.87% and 22.26% increment, respectively, as compared to the control. The sludge on the 40th day of the anaerobic digestion was reutilized to cultivate the fresh batch of microalgae. The microalgal growth was studied at a light intensity of 3000 Lux, 22 ± 2 °C and pH of 7–7.5. The maximum lipid content of 19% on a dry cell weight basis (dcw) was seen at 20% sludge concentration in GS12. Total microalgal biomass was found to be increased by 22% compared to the control, i.e., in BG-11 media. This combined use of microalgae with RS helped in enhanced energy recovery. It also provides a sustainable approach for the development of a microalgae-based biorefinery for the production of biodiesel and biogas as an energy fuel.

Employing sustainable techniques that utilize waste resources for the generation of valuable products are pivotal towards establishing economically-sound technologies. Moreover, directing these techniques towards creating entities that aid in alleviating environmental pollution concerns are highly desirable. Rice husks (RH) are abundantly available biomasses that are usually destroyed via inefficient means. Their utilization via thermochemical processes such as pyrolysis, yields fruitful, high-utility products like bio-char and bio-oil. Bio-char presents ideal platforms for developing highly-porous organic adsorbents. This work utilizes slow pyrolysis method for converting RH to bio-char under various temperatures in presence of a CO2 environment. Utilization of CO2 influences the textural and chemical nature of the developed bio-char and its deployment also lends an environmentally-conscious facet to this work, as it helps lower the overall carbon-footprint. As-prepared bio-char was activated in presence of an alkali that enhanced its overall surface area to 440 m2/g. Activated bio-char was utilized as an adsorbent for removal of commonly-found pharmaceutical pollutant, Ranitidine. Different parametric studies such as variation in pH, adsorbent dosage and pyrolysis temperature, were performed to understand their effect on adsorption capacity of prepared adsorbents. Adsorption of 50 ppm ranitidine on the activated bio-char at pH 9, resulted in the removal of 88.3% reactant, when 100 mg adsorbent dosage was provided. Activated bio-char displayed a maximum adsorption capacity of 65.8 mg/g under those conditions. Adsorption kinetics followed a pseudo-second order pathway while the adsorption isotherm could be described by the Langmuir model.

This study emphasizes the use of different thermal pretreatment methods (i.e., hot air oven, hot water bath, autoclave and microwave) on pretreatment of rice straw prior to anaerobic degradation. These pretreatment methods resulted in reasonably high solubilization of recalcitrant biomass. Maximum solublisation was attained by microwave (190 °C; exposure time-4 min) (66.6%) followed by autoclave, hot air oven and hot water bath methods. Accelerated cumulative methane yield of microwave pretreated sample achieved was 367.71 mL/g-VSadded, which was 160.68 mL/g-VSadded higher than the control. Combining this high temperature conditions with lesser exposure time also improved the energy balance of the process. The physicochemical characteristics of pretreated rice straw were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), FESEM analysis showed the increased porosity of the rice straw, FTIR analysis showed the omission of hemicellulose from the matrix and with XRD analysis reduced value of crystallinity index supports the destruction of the crystalline matrix.

Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) from Cr(VI) resistant acid-tolerant biofilm forming bacterium (CrRAtBb) Lysinibacillus sphaericus RTA-01 was used for synthesis of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MIONPs) in removal of Cr(VI). MIONPs synthesized in EPS matrix were characterized by UV-Vis, DLS, ATR-FTIR, XRD, FESEM, HRTEM and VSM. Primarily, the synthesis of MIONPs was established by the formation of black-colored precipitate through surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak in between 330 and 450 nm. The size of the spherical MIONPs with diameter range 13.75–106 nm was confirmed by DLS, XRD and FESEM analysis. HRTEM study confirmed the size of the MIONPs in the range of 10–65 nm. Moreover, the EDX and SAED confirmed the purity and polycrystalline nature of MIONPs. The ATR-FTIR peaks below 1000 cm−1 designated the synthesis of MIONPs. Also, the magnetic property of MIONPs was confirmed for separation from the aqueous solution. MIONPs were further checked for the adsorption of Cr(VI) with initial concentration range of 50–200 mg L−1. An adsorption isotherm and thermodynamic study were also carried out and the experimental data was best fitted in Langmuir isotherm model with maximum adsorption percent of 1052.63 mg g−1 of Cr(VI). Post interaction with Cr(VI), the surface characteristic of MIONPs in EPS matrix was evaluated by zeta potential, EDX, ATR-FTIR and XRD. This study ascertained the adsorption of Cr(VI) over EPS stabilized MIONPs whereas the zeta potential and XRD analysis confirmed the presence of reduced Cr(IV) on the adsorbent surface.

Anaerobic digestion of lignocellulosic biomass has gained huge attention in current years, especially for degrading agricultural waste (i.e. rice straw, wheat straw etc.). Challenges related to anaerobic digestion of agricultural waste are low biogas yield, poor buffering capacity, low quality end products and potential variability. These inadequacies are either because of low mass transfer (high solid contents, poor nutritional structure) or can be accredited to recalcitrant nature of agricultural residues. To overcome these challenges various techniques exists like pretreatment of feedstock, co-digestion with different substrate and inoculation efficiency have been considered to increase the performance of anaerobic process. This review includes the effect of these techniques on lignocellulosic degradation, synergistic interaction with high C/N ratio feedstock and improving the buffering capacity by inoculum ratio optimization. Furthermore, key parameters influencing the anaerobic digestion are included with proposed future study.

Ginger oleoresin and volatile oil find a wide range of applications in food, beverage, pharmaceutical, fragrance and biotech industry. The extraction and processing methodologies chosen are critical for the overall quality of the extract as well as for quantitative measure of temperature sensitive major actives present in the extract. In this context, a single step process for supercritical CO2 (SCCO2) extraction coupled with fractionation of dry ginger for simultaneous production of gingerols rich oleoresin and volatile oil has been proposed for the first time. The optimization and scale-up validation of this process have been achieved in three stages. Firstly, SCCO2 extraction conditions were optimized for the highest yield of mixture extract containing a maximum amount of volatile oil components and major actives [sum of (6 + 8+10) gingerols and 6-shogaol]. The optimum process variables under laboratory scale conditions were: average ginger particle size 253 μm, extraction temperature 40 °C, pressure 276 bar, flow rate 30 g min−1 and 153 min of extraction time. This resulted in 8.6% yield of a mixture extract having 37.97 wt % of major actives and 28.3 wt % of volatile oil. In the second stage of experiments, these conditions were scaled up 50 folds on a commercial scale unit. The recovered mixture extract recorded an improvement in 0.1% yield with an increase of 0.34 and 1.2 wt % in its major actives and volatile oil, respectively. Finally, the optimum conditions of online SCCO2 fractionation (coupled with same optimum extraction conditions) resulted in a 5.95% oleoresin yield, which was 96.15% pure and had 51.2 wt % of major actives, in separator 1 operating at 175 bar/40 °C. Simultaneously, 2.71% yield of volatile oil (95.94% pure) was recovered in separator 2 (40 bar/40 °C). The yield and quality of oleoresin and volatile oil extracted from conventional methods were also compared.

In the present work, a systematic profiling of nine ginger varieties from northeast India and their screening for various industrial applications has been attempted based on multivariate chemometric tools and correlation analysis. A detailed database of forty-one parameters has been presented for the first time which pertains to the physical, morphological and nutritional properties, essential minerals, the antioxidant properties of extractives, active ingredients of oleoresin and volatile oils. The relative abundance of mineral contents followed a trend of K > Na > Mg > Ca > Fe > P > Mn > Zn > Cr > Ni > Cu for all the varieties. Ethanol proved to be the best solvent for extracting maximum phenolic (0.96 mg g−1) and flavonoids (1.52 mg g−1) content from dried rhizomes. Sungro-sung variety from Nagaland was found to contain surprisingly high 6- gingerol content (2.21% dry basis) which has not been reported so far. Chemometric tools clearly segregated Sungro-sung followed by Arunachal Pradesh local varieties as the best in terms of overall antioxidant as well as nutritive potential. The correlation study within all the properties revealed a strong inverse relationship among the average size with major bioactive constituents of oleoresin and volatile oils of all the varieties. This single parameter can potentially be used as a rapid inexpensive non-destructive method in developing countries for screening the ginger varieties for commercial production of volatile oil and oleoresin.

Biogas has become an alternative clean source of energy. Agricultural residues being renewable and abundant resources could be efficiently used as a feed for methane production. The recalcitrant behaviour of rice straw marks pretreatment an important step to facilitate the transformation into renewable (methane) energy source. Microwave pretreatment has been considered as one of the most effective method, as it can directly (thermal and nonthermal effects) react with the feedstock and destroy its complex matrix. The present study considered the different temperature and exposure time (i.e., 130–230 °C, 2–5 min). Biochemical methane potential was assessed corresponding to the maximum solubilization rate; specific methane yield was obtained as 325.76 mL/g/VS. The total net energy gain of 3288.576 J/g/VS was obtained. The performance parameters were calculated by using different kinetic models. It followed the trend as modified Gompertz > transference function > logistic function models. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) analysis confirmed the breakdown of lignocellulose structure resulting from the rupture of cuticular surface.

Rubber seed shell (RSS), comprises of 96.67 wt% organic content and 38.6% crystallinity index, was used for the production of biofuel and value-added chemicals through semi-batch pyrolysis. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of RSS at heating rate of 20 °C/min showed R50 value as 12.72%/min at 376.5 °C. The gaseous product evolved during the decomposition of RSS were analyzed through inline Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) coupled with TGA instrument. The effects of pyrolysis temperatures (350°C-600 °C) and heating rates (10°C/min–40 °C/min) on the product distribution (liquid, gas and bio-char) were investigated. The maximum yield of liquid product (46.14 wt%) and the carbon-rich bio-char (31.92 wt%) were obtained at 550 °C temperature for heating rate of 30 °C/min. The fuel characteristics of produced bio-char such as higher calorific value (34.5 MJ/kg), higher fixed carbon (79.74 wt%), lower ash (1.87 wt%) and lower moisture content (2.11 wt%) suggested its potential to be used as solid fuel. Value-added organic compounds such as acetic acid, phenolic compounds, creosol, pilocarpine, benzene and levoglucosan were identified in the liquid product using gas chromatography. The pH values of liquid products (2.55–3.0) support the presence of organic acids and phenolic fraction. The presence of various functional groups was also identified using FT-IR spectroscopy. In depth analysis of physico-chemical-thermal properties of RSS and obtained products (liquid and bio-char) suggested that RSS can be considered as a suitable feedstock for the production of value added chemicals including fuel.

Marine green algae biomass residue (ABR), a waste by-product of Dunaliella tertiolecta, left behind after the extraction of oil from the algal biomass, was utilized for the fabrication of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs). The fabricated sulphuric acid hydrolysed CNCs had needle-like morphology, with dominant cellulose type I polymorph and a high crystallinity index of 89 %. ICP-MS elemental analysis confirmed the presence of a variety of minerals in the ABR. Washed ABR (WABR)/PLA and CNC/PLA bio-composite films were developed via solvent casting technique with varying bio-filler loadings for comparing their effectiveness on the crystallization behaviour of PLA. FESEM, FTIR, XRD and TGA were used to characterize the bio-fillers. The nucleating and crystallization behaviour of the bio-composite films were confirmed using DSC, SAXS and POM analysis which indicated better effectiveness of CNCs with a significant reduction in cold crystallization temperature, and noteworthy increment in crystallinity and spherulite growth rate.

Application of ultrasound technology in modulating the hydration process during paddy germination was analyzed in this study. The effect of hydropriming (24 h) and sono-hydro priming (ultrasound priming, 12 h) on the hydration behaviour of paddies was determined at different temperatures (25–40 °C). Ultrasound pulse was applied for 10 min after every one hour for sono-hydro priming. Germination potential and microstructure analysis of treated paddies were also performed. Downward concave curve observed in hydration process of paddies indicates initial high-water absorption through diffusion process. Sono-hydro priming process showed higher hydration rate compared to hydropriming. The changes in moisture content during hydration processes fitted to theoretical (Fick's model) and empirical model (Peleg model) exhibited high regression coefficient (R2 > 0.95) indicating suitability for predicting hydration behaviour in both paddies for germination. The Peleg model adequately predicted saturation moisture content and sono-hydro priming efficiently increased the water absorption rate. Effective moisture diffusivity determined from Fick's diffusion model increased for sono-hydro priming. Activation energy estimated from effective moisture diffusivity required in sono-hydro priming (Ea = 20.32 and 19.19 KJ/mol respectively) for pigmented rice and non-pigmented rice was lower than hydropriming (Ea = 27.11 and 32.15 KJ/mol respectively). Both hydration processes were endothermic and non-spontaneous inferred from thermodynamic properties. Sono-hydro priming exhibited

The effect of extrusion cooking on the quality of rice extrudate with infused microencapsulated anthocyanin was investigated. The moisture sorption isotherm of the extrudate was also studied. The rotatable central composite design was used to optimize the extrusion process and the optimized conditions were: screw speed, 121 rpm; barrel temperature, 91.89 °C; and moisture content, 22.03%. The extrudate showed anthocyanin content of 0.218 mg/L; true density, 1.48 g/cc; water activity 0.51, water solubility index, 7.49%; and specific mechanical energy, 31.39 kJ/kg. The antioxidant activity and solubility of the extrudate were higher as compared with native extrudate. The moisture sorption isotherm of the extrudate was found to follow type III isotherm behavior according to the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller classification. The sorption isotherm was analyzed using several models and the Caurie and Peleg models were best fitted with the extrudate isotherm data. The present work manifested a way to develop antioxidant rich extrudate. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s10068-020-00841-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Deep Eutectic Solvents (DESs) are gaining more interest as low-cost extraction media. Looking at its vast opportunity, the current work explores the extraction of alcohols namely ethanol, 1-propanol, and 1-butanol from the aqueous phase using two novel hydrophobic DES at 303.15 K and 1 atm. The preparation of DES possess a common HBA (Hydrogen Bond Acceptor) with a HBD (Hydrogen Bond Donor such as organic acids i.e., lauric acid and decanoic acid) at a certain proportion. Ratios of 2:1 and 1:1 were used for synthesizing menthol: lauric acid (DES-1) and menthol/decanoic acid (DES-2), respectively. The highest extraction efficiency of alcohols was observed in the presence of DES-1. Thereafter, atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have also been adopted to understand the extraction mechanism of alcohols from water using these DES. From MD simulations, the interaction energies, structural properties such as radial and special distribution functions, and dynamic properties such as self-diffusivity are...

Biological pretreatment with novel isolated microbial pure culture was utilised to pretreat water hyacinth to enhance its solubilisation followed by biogas production. Lignocellulose degrading bacterial strains isolated from soil (Bordetella muralis VKVVG5) (UN3d2), the gut of silverfish (Citrobacter werkmanii VKVVG4) (SFa2) and millipede (Paenibacillus sp. VKVVG1) (BrB2) were employed to optimise the ideal bacterial strain illustrating accelerated hydrolysis of water hyacinth. Citrobacter werkmanii VKVVG4 pretreatment of water hyacinth with an optimum dosage of 109 CFU/mL and time of 4 days helped in achieving the highest solubilisation of 33.3%. Biochemical methane potential (BMP) test was conducted between untreated and Citrobacter werkmanii VKVVG4 pretreated water hyacinth. Biochemical methane potential (BMP) test of pretreated water hyacinth illustrated faster start up period than the untreated water hyacinth. Citrobacter werkmanii VKVVG4 (SFa2) pretreated water hyacinth illustrated a cumulative biogas production of 3737 ± 21 mL whereas untreated water hyacinth illustrated a cumulative biogas production of 3038 ± 13 mL on the 50th day. Scaled up batch (20 L) study demonstrated a three times increase in the cumulative biogas generation of the microbial pretreated water hyacinth than the untreated water hyacinth.

Lignocellulosic ethanol is one of the utmost promising and happening technological options available to moderate greenhouse gas emissions from transportation sector. Present study used ultrasound-assisted lime pretreated lignocellulosic biomass of Bon bogori for saccharification to obtain fermentable sugar. The saccharification process yielded 6.89% sugar. The fermentation study was conducted using wastewater sludge as a source of microorganisms to produce bio-ethanol and bio-hydrogen. The study includes optimization of fermentation process using Taguchi methodology (multi response). Four important parameters such as type of reactors (stirred tank and fluidized bed reactor), temperature, pH of operation and organic loading ratio were considered for optimization process. The optimum production of both ethanol and bio-hydrogen were found to be 0.21 mol, and 30.8 ± 0.5-mmol respectively.

Compared to other inedible agricultural based feedstocks such as corn stover, rice husk, wheat straw and sugarcane bagasse, sorghum biomass (stalks and leaves) possess elevated credentials towards biofuel production which is highly tolerant against heat and drought conditions. Therefore, a novel sorghum phenotype was generated through genetic mutations called “brown midrib” which possesses low lignin content with enriched palatability. In the present study, the chemical composition of fourteen genetically modified sorghum biomass traits were analyzed which constitute, 52.7–60% of structural carbohydrates (cellulose and hemicellulose) and 11.6–17.7% of lignin. Due to the presence of low lignin content, pretreatment was performed using low energy input system to achieve maximum hemicellulose hydrolysis with minimized levels of sugar decomposition products. As a result, 88–92% of hemicellulose hydrolysis was attained with low amount of furfural (0.34–0.49 g/L) and 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (0.38–0.56 g/L). Furthermore, fermentation was also performed without detoxification of pretreatment derived hemicellulosic hydrolyzate to evaluate the effect of fermentative inhibitors on ethanol-producing yeast. As a result, 88.8–92.5% ethanol conversion efficiency and 0.45–0.47 (gp/gs) ethanol yield were achieved within 15 h of fermentation time period.

The present work investigates the efficiency of two pretreatment pathways of biomass, namely ionic liquid (IL) and dilute sulfuric acid (H2SO4) hydrolysis. Both processes are compared in terms of their composition and enzymatic saccharification efficacy. For the IL process, bamboo was dissolved in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([Emim][OAc]) at different temperatures (90, 110, 130, and 150 °C) for 3 h. These pretreated bamboo samples were then characterized by thermogravimetric analysis and X-ray diffraction to evaluate the biomass crystallinity and thermal decomposition temperature. The crystallinity index, thermal decomposition temperature, hemicellulose, and lignin content of bamboo were found to decrease after [Emim][OAc] pretreatment. Further, the IL pretreated biomass significantly enhanced the enzymatic saccharification of cellulose component of bamboo. The enzymatic hydrolysis rate for IL pretreated biomass was 4.7 times higher than that of the acid pretreated biomass. This was primarily attr...

The present study investigate the production of reducing sugars from spent Java citronella (Cymbopogon winterianus Jowitt) biomass using subcritical water (SCW) treatment in a batch reactor. The effect of process parameters such as temperature (140-220 °C) and reaction time (5-40 min) on total reducing sugar (TRS) yield was studied. The production of TRS increased with an increase in the temperature from 140-160 °C and decreased thereafter. The maximum amount of TRS 132.09 mg.g-1 biomass was obtained at 160°C and 30 min reaction time. The formation of sugar inhibitors (5-HMF or Furfural) was almost insignificant upto 160°C, but increased subsequently with an increase in the reaction temperature and time. The maximum inhibitors concentration of 16.70 mg.g-1 was obtained at 220°C and 30 min reaction time, which includes 5.77 mg.g-1 of 5-HMF and 10.93 mg.g-1 of furfural. The crystallinity index (CI) value of biomass sample increased from 35.30% to 52.68% with an increase in the temperature from 140-180°C, further increased in temperature to 220°C decreases the CI abruptly to 20.15% thereby altering the biomass to relatively amorphous. The porous external surface as observed in scanning electron microscopic analysis of the sample after SCW treatment showed significant removal of sugars and lignin.

The current investigation emphasizes the effect of different citrate buffer strengths on cellulose conversion efficiency during the enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated sorghum stalks, and the subsequent fermentation of enzymatic hydrolysates to achieve the industrial titer of bioethanol. A set of enzymatic hydrolysis experiments were conducted in 50 mM, 5 mM and 0.5 mM citrate buffer mediums which contain dilute sulfuric acid pretreatment derived biomass as substrate. As a result, similar cellulose conversion efficiencies such as 68.7%, 68.8% and 69% were observed during enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated biomass at 50 mM, 5 mM and 0.5 mM citrate buffer strengths, respectively. Enzymatic hydrolysates derived from 50 mM, 5 mM and 0.5 mM citrate buffer mediums has been fermented by S. cerevisiae, which resulted in ethanol yield of 0.38 gp/gs, 0.47 gp/gs, and 0.47 gp/gs, respectively. As per the fermentation results, it has been observed that, metabolic growth of S. cerevisiae has been hindered due to the presence of high concentration of citric acid (50 mM) in the enzymatic hydrolysate.

This work aimed to gain mechanistic insights into the salt stress mediated enhanced lipid accumulation in microalgae. Two freshwater microalgae were isolated from North Guwahati Assam, and were identified as Chlorella sorokiniana CG12(KR905186) and Desmodesmus GS12(KR905187). The effects of various salts such as NaCl, KCl, MgCl2 and CaCl2 were investigated where CaCl2 exhibited the maximum effect on lipid enhancement up to 40.02% and 44.97% in CG12 and GS12, respectively. Furthermore, the substantial increase was observed in oleic acid content up to 64.18% and 53.46% in CG12 and GS12 in the presence of 25 mM and 5 mM CaCl2, respectively. Cluster analysis revealed the correlation between lipid profile alterations by varying concentration of salts. Based on the outcomes of the present study, it is hypothesized that Ca2+ plays a decisive role in the cell signaling under salt stress conditions and subsequently enhances the synthesis of lipid molecules.

The present work attempts to measure the solid-liquid equilibrium (SLE) of glucose in three novel low cost deep eutectic solvents (DES) namely tetrabutylammonium bromide [TBAB]-Imidazole, [TBAB]-ethylene glycol, and [TBAB]-glycerol over the temperature ranging from 299.15–353.15 K. The [TBAB]-Imidazole DES gave the highest solubility of glucose in among all the DES. The experimental solubility data was correlated with the Apelblat empirical equation along with regression using local composition models namely NRTL and UNIQUAC models. The thermodynamic functions of dissolution such as enthalpy Δ dissol o H , Gibbs energy Δ dissol o G and entropy of dissolution Δ dissol o S were also calculated from the modified van't Hoff equation. The dissolution functions gave positive values for all the studied systems indicating that the process is endothermic in nature while being non-spontaneous and entropically favourable. In addition, classical Molecular Dynamic (MD) simulations were performed to disclose the glucose-DES interactions. From MD simulations, the anion and hydrogen bond donor (HBD) molecules is seen to overall dominate the dissolution of glucose. The anion of hydrogen bond acceptor (HBA) and the HBD molecules are primarily responsible for the dissolution of glucose. The isomerization of glucose to fructose in [TBAB]-Imidazolium DES was observed for temperatures above 313.15 K, which resulted in a lower concentration of glucose at higher temperatures.

Oilseed crop with high oil content and promising ecological adaptability are potential sources for competitive biodiesel production. This study investigates the scope of utilizing biodiesel development through the methyl and ethyl ester from soybean and mustard oil as an alternative fuel. Methyl and ethyl esters of oils having different fatty acids compositions such as soybean (SOME and SOEE) and mustard oil (MUME and MUEE) were prepared by transesterification with methanol and ethanol in the presence of an alkali-KOH catalyst. The gas chromatographic (GC) analysis of oil samples revealed that primary fatty acid composition in soybean oil was linoleic acid (C18:2, 51.93%), followed by oleic acid (C18:1, 22.82%), palmitic acid (C16:0, 11.56%), linolenic acid (C18:3, 5.95%) and stearic acid (C18:0, 4.32%). Whereas, the main components in mustard oil were erucic acid (C22:1, 32.81%), oleic acid (C18:1, 24.98%), eicosenoic acid (C20:1, 10.44%), linolenic acid (C18:3, 8.61%) and palmitic acid (C16:0, 2.80%). The physicochemical properties (acid value, iodine value, calorific value, flash point, pour point etc.) of methyl and ethyl ester samples were estimated and found to be within the acceptable range of ASTM D6751 standards specifications. The prepared esters and oil samples were examined for cold flow properties by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Results revealed better cold flow properties for MUME (−2.55 °C) and MUEE (−3.10 °C) than SOME (3.21 °C) and SOEE (1.83 °C) due to more unsaturated fatty acid content in MU. Thermal and oxidative stability of samples was determined by thermogravimetric analysis (TG) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). The thermal and oxidative stability ranking of the samples was in the order of oil > methyl esters > ethyl esters.

The ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) of phenolic compounds and monomeric anthocyanin from black and purple rice bran was modeled and optimized in this study. The process of extraction was optimized using four variables rotatable central composite design (RCCD) followed by response surface methodology (RSM) to achieve improved total phenolic compounds (TPC) and monomeric anthocyanin content. The effect of pH, temperature, solvent concentration, and extraction time on extraction yield was examined. The comparative analysis of purple and black rice bran at the optimized conditions revealed higher monomeric anthocyanin (34.86 mg C3G/L) and TPC (2232 mg GAE/100 g) in the purple rice bran extracts than black rice (31.95 mg C3G/L and 1978.76 mg GAE/100 g). Moreover, the TPC and anthocyanin yield using UAE were significantly higher than the conventional extraction process for purple (778.98 mg GAE/100 g and 21.82 mg C3G/L) and black rice bran (753.89 mg GAE/100 g and 18.75 mg C3G/L), respectively. The prediction of extraction yield using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was carried out successfully. GC–MS analysis of extracts showed the presence of nine compounds in purple rice bran extract and four in black rice bran extract. The HPLC analysis showed that α-Tocopherol (163.5 and 154.75 μg/L), Cynanidin-3-glucoside (192.63 and 2.78 μg/L), 4-Hydroxybenzoic acid (349 and 347 μg/L) and Vanillic acid (101.72 and 152.76 μg/L) were the predominant compounds in bran extracts.

Synthesis of rubber oil methyl ester (ROME) employing a two-step procedure, esterification using homogeneous catalyst followed by transesterification with heterogeneous catalyst was studied. The acid value of extracted RSO was reduced from 24 mg KOH/g to 2 mg KOH/g during esterification using 1.5 wt% catalyst loading (H2SO4) and 15:1 methanol to oil molar ratio for 2 h reaction time at 30 °C. Transesterification of esterified RSO with heterogeneous barium hydroxide octahydrate catalyst (Ba(OH)2·8H2O) was performed using conventional and ultrasonic techniques. Ultrasonic technique results in the increased yield of ROME compared to conventional process. The effect of catalyst Ba(OH)2·8H2O dehydration on the yield of ROME was also investigated in detail. The results showed that methyl ester conversion is not influenced by calcinations of catalyst. Highest transesterification yield was obtained with non-calcinated Ba(OH)2·8H2O compared to calcinated catalyst. But, within the studied calcinations temperature range, 400 °C showed significantly higher ROME conversion compared to 800 °C. BET analysis confirms lower surface area formation at 800 °C compared to other calcinated conditions. Central composite design (CCD) using response surface methodology (RSM) was adopted to design the experimental matrix and to optimize the combined effect of process parameters, reaction time (5–15min), catalyst loading (CL) (4–6wt%) and methanol to oil molar ratio (MR) (6:1–9:1) on ROME conversion. A second order model equation with p-value

Hydro-distillation was performed to determine the quantity of essential oil in different parts of Java Citronella (Cymbopogon winterianus Jowitt) plant. Parameters affecting the oil extraction process were evaluated using Response Surface Methodology. The generated second order polynomial model was highly significant with R2 = 0.9744 and P

Presence of pungent gingerols in ginger oleoresin makes it an ideal natural flavoring candidate for the food industry. The study reports its incorporation for synergistic enhancement of flavor and nutraceutical portfolio of candied mango. The process is systematically optimized at bench-scale for gingerols infusion and subsequent candying treatment in a range of hypo and hypertonic osmotic solutions for critical transport properties. After that, optimization of the drying process and the scale-up study was conducted with a 200 folds increase in the batch size. Collated effects of multistep optimization resulted in 85.6, 76.8, 60.2% retention in β-carotene, total phenolics, Vitamin C, respectively, along with minor color difference and significant improvement in sensory scores over fresh mango. Mass transfer and quality parameters were comparable in both scales, implying excellent repeatability and scalability of the process. Compared with a similar commercial product, substantial improvement in quality characteristics along with 376.7% reduction in overall processing time was achieved.

The present study is undertaken to reveal the effect of cosolvents on the dissolution behaviour of cellulose in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([Emim][OAc]) by both quantum chemical (QC) and Molecular Dynamic (MD) simulations. Two categories of cosolvents namely protic and aprotic solvents have been selected in order to enhance the cellulose dissolution in ionic liquid (IL). In the typical IL/cosolvent system, anion of the IL was found to be strongly solvated by the protic solvents (Formamide and Acetamide) thereby resulting in decreasing cellulose solubility, whereas it gave contrary trend for aprotic solvents (DMSO, DMF, DMAc). The dissolution of cellulose was essentially quantified by the cellulose-anion interactions by studying the non-bonded interaction energies. Furthermore, the solid-liquid equilibria experiments were conducted for cellulose in IL and IL/cosolvent mixtures to confirm the simulated results. From MD simulations and experimental results, DMSO was found to be the best cosolvent for the enhancement of cellulose dissolution in IL. The regenerated cellulose was then characterized by Fourier transform spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). From the TGA analysis, thermal stability of regenerated cellulose was found to be reduced by 6 °C at room temperature.

As a substitute of fossil fuels, lignocellulosic biomass is a potential feedstock for the production of energy and value-added chemicals. The present work reports the solubility (solid–liquid equilibria, SLE) of disaccharides, namely, d-(+)-cellobiose, sucrose, and maltose monohydrate in two ionic liquids (ILs) by a combined approach using experiments and predictions with the continuum solvation model. The screened ILs, namely, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium thiocyanate ([EMIM][SCN]) and tris(2-hydroxyethyl)methylammonium methylsulfate [TMA][MeSO4], were then used as solvents to measure the SLE at a temperature range of 302.15–353.15 K. The IL [EMIM][SCN] gave a higher solubility as compared to [TMA][MeSO4] irrespective of the disaccharide. The solubility trend within the disaccharide was similar in both the ILs, and it followed: maltose monohydrate > sucrose > d-(+)-cellobiose. The interactions were further confirmed from the quantum chemical calculations by investigating the interaction energy and HOMO–LUM...

The study reports shelf-life enhancement of candied mango by infusion of gingerols. Gingerols infused product (GIP), with 3.67 mg gingerols/100 g and non-infused products (control) were packed in multilayer metalized (MET), and ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) based pouches and stored at 25, 35 and 45 °C for 120 days. Degradation kinetics of browning and related parameters showed following order: kβ-carotene > ksensory (color) > knon-enzymatic browning > kvitamin C > kantioxidant capacity > k sensory (overall) > ktotal phenolics > kgingerols, resulting in multiple cutoff criteria and predicted shelf-lives (SLpredicted). The application of chemometrics simplified the kinetic interpretations and hence the predictions. Gingerols infusion retarded the deterioration of all quality parameters and substantially enhanced SLpredicted of GIP over control, irrespective of storage conditions. Finally, chemometric based SLpredicted of 144 days closely predicted the actual shelf-life of 142 days for control samples stored in EVOH pouches at 25 °C, in contrast to kinetics based SLpredicted of 185 days.

The present study aims at the extraction of a polyaromatic hydrocarbon from fuel oils using a novel low-cost deep eutectic solvent (DES). The DES is prepared by mixing the hydrogen bond acceptor (HBA; methyltriphenylphosphonium bromide, MTPB) and hydrogen bond donor (HBD; ethylene glycol) at a molar ratio of 1:4. The liquid-liquid equilibrium is then measured at ambient condition. The classical molecular dynamic (MD) simulation technique is then employed to investigate and compare the experimental phase behavior of a DES-quinoline-heptane ternary system. For performing the MD simulations, two experimental feed points are considered which gave high selectivity and distribution coefficient values. The interaction energies of different species and the structural properties such as radial distribution functions, average number of hydrogen bonds, and spatial distribution functions (SDFs) are then computed. It is found that the cation within the HBA, namely, MTP, possesses favorable interactions with quinoline when compared to HBD or anion (Br). MTP here acts as a HBA and contributes to the hydrogen bonding with quinoline, which results in higher experimental selectivity values. The calculations of SDFs further reveal the fact that the DES molecules are evenly distributed around the active sites of the quinoline molecule, whereas heptane molecules are found to be distributed around the nonactive sites of the aromatic ring.

The present study investigates the dissolution behaviour of cellulose and hemicellulose in potential ionic liquids (ILs) using both the quantum chemical and experimental validation. For converging upon the recommended IL, 1428 ILs consisting of 42 cations and 34 anions were studied with the conductor like screening model for real solvents (COSMO-RS) model. Based on the infinite dilution activity coefficient of the components in IL, the selected anions and cations were visualised by observing their interactions with cellulose and hemicellulose using interaction energies, natural bonding orbital analysis and molecular dynamics simulations. The dissolution order of cellulose and hemicellulose in ILs was primarily determined by the evaluation of hydrogen bonds between the oxygen atom of anion and hydroxyl proton of cellulose/hemicellulose. From this discernible fact, the anion of the IL was observed to play a leading role in the solvation process as compared to the cation. Eventually, acetate [OAc]– anion and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium [EMIM]+ cation were found to be good candidates for the dissolution of cellulose and hemicellulose. This was further confirmed by the measurement of solid-liquid equilibria with cellulose and hemicellulose. The regenerated cellulose powder was then characterised by Fourier transform spectroscopy(FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA).

Conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into monomeric carbohydrates is economically beneficial and suitable for sustainable production of biofuels. Hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass using high acid concentration results in decomposition of sugars into fermentative inhibitors. Thus, the main aim of this work was to investigate the optimum hydrolysis conditions for sorghum brown midrib IS11861 biomass to maximize the pentose sugars yield with minimized levels of fermentative inhibitors at low acid concentrations. Process parameters investigated include sulfuric acid concentration (0.2–1 M), reaction time (30–120 min) and temperature (80–121 °C). At the optimum condition (0.2 M sulfuric acid, 121 °C and 120 min), 97.6% of hemicellulose was converted into xylobiose (18.02 mg/g), xylose (225.2 mg/g), arabinose (20.2 mg/g) with low concentration of furfural (4.6 mg/g). Furthermore, the process parameters were statistically optimized using response surface methodology based on central composite design. Due to the presence of low concentration of fermentative inhibitors, 78.6 and 82.8% of theoretical ethanol yield were attained during the fermentation of non-detoxified and detoxified hydrolyzates, respectively, using Pichia stipitis 3498 wild strain, in a techno-economical way.

Sesbania grandiflora (L.) Pers. is one of the fast growing tree legumes having the efficiency to produce around 50 t ha −1 above ground dry matters in a year. In this study, biomass of 2 years old S. grandiflora was selected for the chemical composition, pretreatments and enzymatic hydrolysis studies. The stem biomass with a wood density of 3.89 ± 0.01 gm cm −3 contains about 38% cellulose, 12% hemicellulose and 28% lignin. Enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated biomass revealed that phosphoric acid (H 3 PO 4 ) pretreated samples even at lower cellulase loadings [1 Filter Paper Units (FPU)], could efficiently convert about 86% glucose, while, even at higher cellulase loadings (60 FPU) alkali pretreated biomass could convert only about 58% glucose. The effectiveness of phosphoric acid pretreatment was also supported by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis.

Graphical abstract, Highlights • Biogenically produced organic acids (citric acid) are used for the bioleaching of spent fluid catalytic cracking catalyst. • Aspergillus strains-A. niger, A. foetidus, and A. carbonarius, were studied with varying catalyst loading for Al bioleaching. • The highest Al leaching efficiency of 88.43% was obtained at 0.8% (w/v) catalyst loading using A. foetidus. • A different carbon source, molasses was also investigated for Al bioleaching. • Highest bioleaching efficiency of 60% (in molasses) for Al was obtained at 40 g/L sugar concentration., Bioleaching uses biodegradable organic acids, thereby making the process environmental friendly as compared to chemical leaching. In this work, bioleaching of aluminium (Al) metal from spent catalyst was investigated by using three Aspergillus strains (A. niger, A. foetidus, and A. carbonarius). Bioleaching was performed in batch culture mode at different loading densities of spent catalyst (i.e., 0.4%, 0.8% and 1.2% (w/v)). The highest Al leaching efficiency of 88.43% was obtained at 0.8% ((w/v)) catalyst loading using A. foetidus, further increase in the catalyst loading decreased the efficiency. In addition to this, molasses was used as a carbon source (low-cost) at various concentrations for bioleaching of spent catalyst and the results were found to be significant at 40 g/L sugar concertation with 60% bioleaching efficiency. Overall, this study indicates that A. foetidus have the potential for leaching of Al from spent catalysts. Therefore, present research findings suggested that, instead of using mineral acids, organic acids (biodegradable) usage for metal leaching process is highly reliable and eco-friendly as well.

The influence of three different fungal strains—namely, Pleurotus ostreatus (PO), Phanerochaete chrysosposrium (PC), and Ganoderma lucidum (GL)—on pretreatment of rice straw, followed by biochemical methane potential assay was evaluated on the basis of structural (Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy, X-ray diffraction etc.) and quantitative (soluble chemical oxygen demand, volatile fatty acids, etc.) analysis. Maximum lignocellulosic degradation was obtained with PC pretreated rice straw (36% more than an untreated sample), followed by PO. Enhancement in the methane yield after 5 weeks of inoculation time was obtained after pretreatment, which was 269.99, 295.91, and 339.31 mL/g VSadded, for PO, GL, and PC, respectively, 1.64–2.22-fold higher than the untreated one. Kinetic modelling of cumulative methane yield showed that modified gompertz model showed the best fit among all analysed models. This study demonstrated the usefulness of fungal species in enhancing the methane yield.

Jatropha curcas is an important biofuel crop due to the presence of high amount of oil in its seeds suitable for biodiesel production. Triacylglycerols (TAGs) are the most abundant form of storage oil in plants. Diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase (DGAT1) enzyme is responsible for the last and only committed step in seed TAG biosynthesis. Direct upregulation of TAG biosynthesis in seeds and vegetative tissues through overexpression of the DGAT1 could enhance the energy density of the biomass, making significant impact on biofuel production. The enzyme diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase is the rate-limiting enzyme responsible for the TAG biosynthesis in seeds. We generated transgenic Jatropha ectopically expressing an Arabidopsis DGAT1 gene through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. The resulting AtDGAT1 transgenic plants showed a dramatic increase in lipid content by 1.5- to 2 fold in leaves and 20–30 % in seeds, and an overall increase in TAG and DAG, and lower free fatty acid (FFA) levels compared to the wild-type plants. The increase in oil content in transgenic plants is accompanied with increase in average plant height, seeds per tree, average 100-seed weight, and seed length and breadth. The enhanced TAG accumulation in transgenic plants had no penalty on the growth rates, growth patterns, leaf number, and leaf size of plants. In this study, we produced transgenic Jatropha ectopically expressing AtDGAT1. We successfully increased the oil content by 20–30 % in seeds and 1.5- to 2.0-fold in leaves of Jatropha through genetic engineering. Transgenic plants had reduced FFA content compared with control plants. Our strategy of increasing energy density by enhancing oil accumulation in both seeds and leaves in Jatropha would make it economically more sustainable for biofuel production.

A castor oil fatty acid methyl ester (COFAME) epoxide was prepared by structural modification of high free fatty acid castor oil. The process involved epoxidation of COFAMEs using hydrogen peroxide as an oxygen donor and IR-120 as a heterogeneous acid catalyst. Response surface methodology was implemented to optimize the epoxidation process variables and to maximize COFAME conversion to oxirane oxygen content (OOC). The effect of the process parameters on epoxidation was examined. The best optimum conditions inferred were as follows: H2O2 molar ratio, 2.34; temperature, 50°C; catalyst loading, 19.43% by weight; and reaction time 5.26 h. The experimental OOC value at optimum conditions was 4.38%, which agreed closely with the model-predicted value (4.44%) with a percentage error of 1.35%. The completion of epoxidation was confirmed by C-NMR13. Molecular weight, oxidative stability, and rheological properties were determined by standard methods. The blending study results revealed that epoxide blend...

This work was aimed at investigating the effect of process parameters on dilute acid pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of spent citronella biomass (after citronella oil extraction) and sugarcane bagasse on total reducing sugar (TRS) yield. In acid pretreatment, the parameters studied were acid concentration, temperature, and time. At the optimized condition (0.1 M H2SO4, 120°C, and 120 min), maximum TRS obtained was 452.27 mg·g−1and 487.50 mg·g−1for bagasse and citronella, respectively. Enzymatic hydrolysis of the pretreated biomass usingTrichoderma reesei26291 showed maximum TRS yield of 226.99 mg·g−1for citronella and 282.85 mg·g−1for bagasse at 10 FPU, 50°C, and 48 hr. The maximum crystallinity index (CI) of bagasse and citronella after acid pretreatment obtained from X-ray diffraction analysis was 64.41% and 56.18%, respectively. Decreased CI after enzymatic hydrolysis process to 37.28% and 34.16% for bagasse and citronella, respectively, revealed effective conversion of crystalline cellulose to glucose. SEM analysis of the untreated and treated biomass revealed significant hydrolysis of holocellulose and disruption of lignin.

Protocols were developed for efficient release of glucose from the biomass of Senna siamea, one of the highly efficient biomass producing tree legumes. Composition of mature, 1year and 2years coppice biomass were analysed. For the hydrolysis of the glucan, two pretreatments, cellulose solvent- and organic solvent-based lignocellulose fractionation (COSLIF) and alkali (sodium hydroxide) were used; COSLIF (85% phosphoric acid, 45min incubation at 50°C) pretreated mature biomass exhibited best result in which 88.90% glucose released after 72h of incubation with the use of 5 filter paper units (FPU) of cellulase and 10 international units (IU) of β-glucosidase per gram of glucan. Of the biomass of different particle sizes (40-200mesh) used for saccharification, 40-60mesh shown the maximum glucose release. COSLIF pretreated mature, 1year and 2years coppice biomass showed equivalent glucose release profiles.