Production of Total Reducing Sugars from Bambusa balcooa through Oxalic Acid Pretreatment

This study aims to assess the applicability of organic acid pretreatment on culm of Bambusa balcooa for the production of maximum total reducing sugars. The experiments were performed by varying organic acids (Formic, acetic, pyruvic, maleic, malic, tartaric, adipic, citric and oxalic acids), concentration of oxalic acid (1-4% (w/v)), solvent to solid ratio (5-40 mL/g), pretreatment time (0-60 min) and temperature (75-135 0C) to maximize total reducing sugars (TRS) concentration using fractional factorial design based one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) approach. Total reducing sugars concentration was estimated by using 3,5-dinitro salicylic acid (DNSA) method. Among various organic acids, oxalic acid exhibited higher reducing sugars concentration. The optimal values show that the maximum TRS of 48.33 g/L was achieved at oxalic acid concentration, solvent to solid ratio, time and temperature of 3% (w/v), 10 mL/g, 15 min and 121 0C for the pretreatment of cassava stem with oxalic acid. A low value of coefficient of variation (CV = 0.32%) showed that the optimal conditions were validated by experiments. Thus, B. balcooa could be used as a potential feedstock for the production of TRS by organic acid pretreatment.