Hydrothermal pretreatment of oil palm fronds for increasing enzymatic saccharification

Oil palm fronds are one of the most promising agricultural lign ellulosic residues for bioethanol production and for adding value to chemical feedst ks in Indonesia and South Kalimantan. Currently, hydrothermal pre-treatment has attracted a great deal of attention because it only uses chemical-free water, which is a non-toxic, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly method to enhance enzymatic digestibility in the production of fermentable sugars. In this study, oil palm fronds were treated at temperatures ranging from 170 to 210°C for 30 minutes in a batch aut lave. The effect of the temperature and time of hydrothermal pre-treatment on the characteristics of the oil palm fronds and the amount of reducing sugar was expressed as a severity factor (log R0). Furthermore, after the hydrothermal pr ess the changes in the mass loss, color of substrates, and the pH of filtrate were evaluated. From these results, the mass loss and pH indicated that the optimum severity factor for hydrothermal treatment was 4.7...