Improved glucose recovery from durian peel by alkaline-catalyzed steam pretreatment

Abraham Kusi Obeng; Duangporn Premjet; Siripong Premjet

doi:10.7717/peerj.12026

Improved glucose recovery from durian peel by alkaline-catalyzed steam pretreatment

PeerJ. 2021 Aug 18:9:e12026. doi: 10.7717/peerj.12026. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Abraham Kusi Obeng^#¹, Duangporn Premjet², Siripong Premjet^#³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Biosciences, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Northern Region, Ghana.
² Center of Excellence in Research for Agricultural Biotechnology, Department of Agricultural Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment, Naresuan University, Muang Phitsanulok, Phitsanulok, Thailand.
³ Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Naresuan University, Muang Phitsanulok, Phitsanulok, Thailand.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Durian (Durio zibethinus Murr.) peel, as agricultural waste, is a potential under-utilized lignocellulosic biomass that is sufficiently available in Thailand. In this study, durian peel from monthong (D. zibethinus Murr. cv. Monthong) and chanee (D.zibethinus Murr. cv. Chanee) were subjected to pretreatment with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) under autoclaving conditions to improve glucose recovery. The effect of NaOH concentration (1%, 2%, 3%, and 4%) and autoclave temperature (110 °C, 120 °C, and 130 °C) was investigated based on the amount of glucose recovered. The optimal NaOH concentration and autoclave temperature were determined to be 2% and 110 °C, respectively, under which maximum glucose (36% and 35% in monthong and chanee peels, respectively) was recovered. Glucose recovery was improved by about 6-fold at the optimal pretreatment condition for both pretreated monthong and chanee when compared to the untreated durian peels. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed great changes to the surface morphology of pretreated durian peel from the two cultivars. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis also revealed a rise in cellulose crystallinity index (CrIs) after pretreatment. A combination of mild NaOH concentration and autoclaving is a very effective pretreatment technique for maximum glucose recovery from durian peel.

Keywords: Agricultural waste; Autoclave; Durian peel; Enzyme hydrolysis; Glucose recovery; Sodium hydroxide.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Research Council of Thailand (No. R2560B153) in the fiscal year 2016–2017. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.