Application of solid-acid catalyst and marine macro-algae Gracilaria verrucosa to production of fermentable sugars

•Gracilaria verrucosa is a potential feedstock for biofuels and chemicals production.•Solid-acid catalyst is a useful tool to obtain fermentable sugars from macro-algae.•High TRS (61 g/L) can be produced under 1:7.5 S/L ratio, 15% catalyst, 140 °C, 150 min.

In this study, the hydrolysis of marine macro-algae Gracilaria verrucosa with a solid-acid catalyst was investigated. To optimize the hydrolysis, four reaction factors, including liquid-to-solid ratio, catalyst loading, reaction temperature, and reaction time, were investigated. In the results, the highest total reducing sugar (TRS) yield, 61 g/L (51.9%), was obtained under the following conditions: 1:7.5 solid-to-liquid ratio, 15% (w/v) catalyst loading, 140 °C reaction temperature, and 150 min reaction time. Under these conditions, 10.7 g/L of 5-HMF and 2.5 g/L of levulinic acid (LA) were generated. The application of solid-acid catalyst and marine macro-algae resources shows a very high potential for production of fermentable sugars.