Coproduction of lignin and glucose from vine shoots by eco-friendly strategies: Toward the development of an integrated biorefinery

Abstract

The objective of this work was to study the suitability of the pretreated vine shoots as a source of lignin and to determine its structural features. The best conditions to achieve the aim of this work were 12% NaOH, 124°C and 105min, as they permitted a removal of 67.7% of the lignin present in the pretreated vine shoots and the obtaining of a solid with a 69.4% of glucan. This delignified solid was subjected to an enzymatic hydrolysis achieving a conversion of glucan to glucose close to 100%. The characterization of lignins extracted from pretreated vine shoots was carried out for the first time and the following techniques were employed: a quantitative acid hydrolysis, HPSEC, TGA, FTIR and Pyrolysis-GC/MS. With this proposal, products from the main fractions of the vine shoots (hemicellulosic oligosaccharides, lignin fragments and cellulosic substrates) could be obtained separately, being potentially suitable for further applications.

Keywords: Alkaline delignification; Biorefinery; Enzymatic digestibility; Lignin; Structural characterization.