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Review
. 2021 Jun 7:9:696030.
doi: 10.3389/fchem.2021.696030. eCollection 2021.

Advances in Pretreatment of Straw Biomass for Sugar Production

Jinyu Tan  1   2 , Yan Li  1 , Xiang Tan  1 , Hongguo Wu  1 , Hu Li  1 , Song Yang  1
Affiliations
Review

Advances in Pretreatment of Straw Biomass for Sugar Production

Jinyu Tan et al. Front Chem. .

Abstract

Straw biomass is an inexpensive, sustainable, and abundant renewable feedstock for the production of valuable chemicals and biofuels, which can surmount the main drawbacks such as greenhouse gas emission and environmental pollution, aroused from the consumption of fossil fuels. It is rich in organic content but is not sufficient for extensive applications because of its natural recalcitrance. Therefore, suitable pretreatment is a prerequisite for the efficient production of fermentable sugars by enzymatic hydrolysis. Here, we provide an overview of various pretreatment methods to effectively separate the major components such as hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin and enhance the accessibility and susceptibility of every single component. This review outlines the diverse approaches (e.g., chemical, physical, biological, and combined treatments) for the excellent conversion of straw biomass to fermentable sugars, summarizes the benefits and drawbacks of each pretreatment method, and proposes some investigation prospects for the future pretreatments.

Keywords: enzymatic hydrolysis; fermentation; pretreatment; saccharification; straw biomass.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Summary of different methods for pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Structural arrangement of straw biomass. Reproduced with permission from Machineni et al. (2019).
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Schematic illustration of biomass pretreatment. Reproduced with permission from Lee et al. (2014).
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Generation of diverse valuable chemicals and biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass. Reproduced with permission from Satari et al. (2019).
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Common DESs are used for biomass treatment and conversion. Adapted with permission from Chen and Mu (2019).
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Common structures of hydrogen bond donors and halide salts are utilized in the formation of DESs. Adapted with permission from Zhang et al. (2012).
FIGURE 7
FIGURE 7
Pressure–temperature phase diagram of a compressible fluid with solid–liquid–gas phase and supercritical region. Pc: critical pressure; Tc: critical temperature. Reproduced with permission from Li et al. (2020).
FIGURE 8
FIGURE 8
Mechanism of prevention of enzyme agglomeration and depolymerization of lignocellulose using sonication. Reproduced with permission from Gogate (2013).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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