Improving enzymatic saccharification of bamboo shoot shell by alkalic salt pretreatment with H2O2

•Impacts of alkalic salts on the pretreatment of BSS with H2O2 were evaluated.•Best performance was observed using Na3PO4·12H2O combined with H2O2.•The maximum reducing sugar yield of 97.1% was achieved in enzymatic saccharification.•The recovered hydrolyzates could be fermented into ethanol efficiently.•The pretreatment shows high potential for application in future.

Pretreatment of bamboo shoot shell (BSS) by a combination of alkalic salts with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was evaluated for its delignification effect and for its ability to enhance enzymatic saccharification of pretreated solids. By comparing different alkalic salts, the combination of 9% Na3PO4·12H2O and 0.3 g/g H2O2 (ASHP) was identified as an effective system that showed the highest delignification of 87.7% and the total reducing sugar yield of 97.1% when pretreated BSS at a solid to liquid ratio of 1/20 (w/w) at 80 °C for 2 h. The delignification effect and the disruption of the lignocelluloses structure by this novel pretreatment method were deduced to be the main reasons that led to enhanced enzymatic saccharification as supported by the chemical composition analysis and the results of SEM, FTIR and XRD analyses of the untreated and alkalic salt pretreated BSS.

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