Evaluation of autoclave assisted sulfuric-acid-catalyzed pretreatments for the liberation of reducing sugars from Parthenium hysterophorus: a response surface approach

Parthenium hysterophorus is a potential source of a wide range of value-added products. Sulfuric acid-catalyzed pretreatment of P. hysterophorus biomass was used to see how it affected the P. hysterophorus characteristics and the sugar yield from enzymatic hydrolysis. The optimised pretreatment (utilized 2% (w/v) of a substrate, 1.50% (v/v) sulfuric acid, and 45 (min) autoclaving times at 121°C) reduced lignin content by 50.98% (w/w), and increased the available cellulose content (20.72% w/w) over native biomass, which was confirmed by compositional studies of treated biomass. The saccharification rate was increased by 2.08-fold following statistical optimisation using response surface methods (167.17 ± 0.84 mg/g substrate after 12 h saccharification was significantly higher than control 80.16 ± 0.36 mg/g substrate). This justifies that P. hysterophorus is a promising non-conventional lignocellulosic candidate for the production of fermentable sugars.