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Biorefinery Cascade Processing for Converting Corncob to Xylooligosaccharides and Glucose by Maleic Acid Pretreatment

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Abstract

Corncob as an abundant and low-cost waste resource has received increasing attention to produce value-added chemicals, it is rich in xylan and regarded as the most preferable feedstock for preparing high value added xylooligosaccharides. The use of xylooligosaccharides as core products can cut costs and improve the economic efficiency in biorefinery. In this study, maleic acid, as a non-toxic and edible acidic catalyst, was employed to pretreat corncob and produce xylooligosaccharides. Firstly, the response surface methodology experimental procedure was employed to maximize the yield of the xylooligosaccharides; a yield of 52.9% (w/v) was achieved with 0.5% maleic acid (w/v) at 155 °C for 26 min. In addition, maleic acid pretreatment was also beneficial to enhance the enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency, resulting in an enzymatic glucose yield of 85.4% (w/v) with a total of 10% solids loading. Finally, a total of 160 g of xylooligosaccharides and 275 g glucose could be produced from 1000 g corncob starting from the maleic acid pretreatment. Overall, a cascade processing for converting corncob to xylooligosaccharides and glucose by sequential maleic acid pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis was successfully designed for the corncob wastes utilization.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the support of the Advanced Analysis and Testing Center of Nanjing Forestry University.

Funding

The research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32171730).

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Author notes

  1. Zhina Lian and Qibo Zhang contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, 210037, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China

    Zhina Lian, Qibo Zhang, Yong Xu & Xin Zhou

  2. School of Basic Medical Sciences and Forensic Medicine, Hangzhou Medical College, 310053, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China

    Kankan Jiang

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  1. Zhina Lian
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  2. Qibo Zhang
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  3. Yong Xu
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  4. Xin Zhou
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Contributions

Zhina Lian performed the experiments, analyzed the data. Qibo Zhang prepared the draft manuscript. Kankan Jiang and Xin Zhou conceived, designed the study and modified the manuscript. Yong Xu reviewed and edited the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Xin Zhou.

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Lian, Z., Zhang, Q., Xu, Y. et al. Biorefinery Cascade Processing for Converting Corncob to Xylooligosaccharides and Glucose by Maleic Acid Pretreatment. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 194, 4946–4958 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-022-03985-7

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