Comparison of Dilute Acid and Alkali Catalysed Liquid Hot Water Pretreatment of Hazelnut Shells for Enzymatic Hydrolysis

Abstract

The efficiency of alkali and acid pretreatment of hazelnut shells for increasing enzymatic saccharification of cellulose has been evaluated. Hazelnut shells were pretreated with 1% of sulphuric acid, and 2.25 % sodium hydroxide at different temperatures (120-150-200 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Maximum glucose recovery (59.57% g glucose/100 g dry unpretreated) was obtained alkali pretreatement (150 degrees C with 2.25 wt.% sodium hydroxide, for 30 min pretreatement time). The sulphuric acid pretreatment effectively removed the hemicellulose of hazelnut shells. This study showed that sodium hydroxide pretreatment was effective in improving the digestibility of hazelnut shells.