Comparison of High Temperature Alkali and Acid Pretreatment for the Enzymatic Saccharification of Poppy Stalks

Abstract

In this study, the effect of dilute alkali (NaOH) and dilute acid (H2SO4) concentrations on the enzymatic digestibility, and sugar recovery from poppy stalks at the pretreatment temperature of 120 degrees C, and pretreatment time of 30 min were investigated. While highest lignin removal was at the concentration of 2.25 % of NaOH concentration, acid pretreatment led to highest hemicellulose removal. Glucose recovery gradually increased from 39.50 % to 85.87 % with the increase in the NaOH concentration. Maximum total sugar yield (63.32 %) was achieved at the concentration of 3.0% NaOH, whereas only 38.16 % of total sugar yield was obtained with acid pretreatment. The results obtained in this study showed that alkali pretreatment for fermentable sugars of poppy stalk was more effective on the sugar recovery than acid pretreatment at 120 degrees C.