Proximate composition and the production of fermentable sugars, levulinic acid, and HMF from Gracilaria fisheri and Gracilaria tenuistipitata cultivated in earthen ponds

The red seaweeds are generally known to have a high content of polysaccharides and low content of lignin. They can be used as a bioethanol feedstock and to produce biochemicals. This study was conducted to examine the pretreatment conditions to improve the production of fermentable sugars and by-pro...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied phycology Vol. 31; no. 1; pp. 683 - 690
Main Authors: Nunraksa, Nattawarit, Rattanasansri, Surichay, Praiboon, Jantana, Chirapart, Anong
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-02-2019
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The red seaweeds are generally known to have a high content of polysaccharides and low content of lignin. They can be used as a bioethanol feedstock and to produce biochemicals. This study was conducted to examine the pretreatment conditions to improve the production of fermentable sugars and by-products from Gracilaria fisheri and Gracilaria. tenuistipitata . The algal materials were gathered from earthen pond cultivation. The pretreatment was conducted at different concentrations of H 2 SO 4 (0.2–1 M) and time (30–150 min) at 95 °C. The proximate composition and contents of glucose, galactose, levulinic acid, and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) were analyzed. Our results showed high carbohydrate content of 63.01 ± 0.47 g carbohydrate (100 g TS) −1 for G. fisheri and 59.07 ± 0.43 g carbohydrate (100 g TS) −1 for G. tenuistipitata . The optimal pretreatment with 1 M of H 2 SO 4 at 95 °C for 150 min resulted in high concentrations of sugars in G. fisheri (7.86 g L −1 glucose, 8.37 g L −1 galactose) compared to G. tenuistipitata (3.15 g L −1 glucose, 5.75 g L −1 galactose). The pretreatment of the algae resulted in concentrations of 5-HMF for G. fisheri and G. tenuistipitata of 1.55 and 1.42 g L −1 , respectively. The levulinic acid concentration was 3.66 g L −1 for G. fisheri and 6.12 g L −1 for G. tenuistipitata . Gracilaria fisheri was more susceptible to the sulfuric acid hydrolysis compared to G. tenuistipitata . Our study revealed that the acid hydrolysis of G. fisheri and G. tenuistipitata can improve the yield of sugars to produce bioethanol feedstocks.
ISSN:0921-8971
1573-5176
DOI:10.1007/s10811-018-1552-9