Efficiency of Corn and Poplar Biomass Saccharification after Pretreatment with Potassium Hydroxide

Pretreatment is an essential step in the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into valuable products. It aims to increase the biomass susceptibility to enzymatic saccharification to generate fermentable monosaccharides. In this study, the efficiency of 2 % potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution used as a pretreating agent for various lignocellulosic feedstocks, such as corn straw, corncob, and poplar wood, was evaluated. The influence of the pretreatment time, which varied from 0.5 to 24 h at 50 °C, on the alteration of biomass composition was investigated, as well as the enzymatic digestibility. Finally, the overall sugar yields were determined. For corncob, the yield on average amounted to 453.9 ±18.9 mg·g⁻¹ raw (untreated) biomass, regardless of the pretreatment time. The overall sugar yield for both the corn straw and poplar wood biomass increased with increased pretreatment time and ranged from 333.0 to 438.4 mg·g⁻¹ raw biomass and from 123.2 to 215.7 mg·g⁻¹ raw biomass, respectively. Based on the results obtained, the most appropriate pretreatment times for all types of biomass were proposed. The results of this study may be useful for the development of lignocellulosic biomass processing technology.