Three Fiber Crops Show Distinctive Biomass Saccharification under Physical and Chemical Pretreatments by Altered Wall Polymer Features

Jute, kenaf, and ramie are important fiber crops in the textile industry, but their core stalks have not been well used. In this study, three fiber crops were examined with enhanced hexoses yields (% cellulose) up to 4.8-, 3.6-, and 1.9-fold from enzymatic hydrolysis of the steam-exploded stalks. Sequential dilute acid/alkali pretreatments achieved the increased hexoses yields up to 7.6-, 4.8-, and 2.8-fold. Without steam explosion, the three crops could increase hexoses yields under extremely high concentrations of NaOH (12% to 16%). While kenaf and ramie mainly showed hemicelluloses removal with steam explosion, jute exhibited an effective co-extraction of hemicelluloses and lignin, which greatly reduced its cellulose DP, hemicellulosic Xyl/Ara, and G-monomer. These findings explain why jute had the highest hexoses yield among the three crops and also suggest that G-monomer and Xyl may interact in a way that mainly determines wall polymers co-extraction with steam explosion.