Biorefining of lignocellulosic biomass has become one of the most valuable alternatives for the production of many commodities such as biofuels. In this case, conversion to monosaccharides and then further to liquid fuel is usually achieved in a three-step process consisting of 1) pretreatment of the lignocellulosic feedstock; 2) cellulase-catalyzed saccharification and 3) microbial fermentation of the liberated monosaccharides into bioethanol. But no consensus exist regarding the quantitative impact of biomass chemical and structural properties affecting biomass saccharification.<br/>In the present work, three distinct representative biomass samples (from poplar, miscanthus and wheat straw) were selected for bioethanol production using industrial-scale steam explosion pretreatment. Various reactive conditions were carried out to modulate pretreatment severity.<br/>Detailed structural and chemical overview of the biomass samples was achieved then correlated with enzymatic saccharification potential. In particular, particle size, porosimetry and morphology factors were studied, in complement to accessibility measured by fluorescence recovery after photobleaching technique. An in-depth characterization of fluorescence properties (autofluorescence, fluorescence life-time) was also performed.<br/>Overall, among all the factors analyzed, we demonstrate that the increase of the steam explosion severity is directly correlated to the shifts of the maximum fluorescence intensity values measured for excitation and emission. Consequently, saccharification of untreated and pretreated biomass samples can be easily predicted by fluorescence measurements. In comparison to other analytical techniques, this method is accurate, fast and requires low investment instruments.

Assessing factors responsible for lignocellulosic biomass saccharification: Fluorescence is brilliant

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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