Alkali pretreatment of wheat straw (Triticum aestivum) at boiling temperature for producing a bioethanol precursor.

We evaluated the effect of dilute sodium hydroxide (NaOH) on wheat straw at boiling temperature for removing lignin and increasing the yield of reducing sugar. Various concentrations of NaOH (0.5% to 2%) were used for pretreating wheat straw at 105 °C for 10 min. Scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy studies revealed that the 2% NaOH-pretreated sample exposed more cellulose fiber. The maximum respective removal of lignin and hemicellulose was 70.3% and 68.2% from the 2% NaOH-pretreated liquor. The reducing sugar yield was 84.6% using an enzyme dose containing 20 FPU of cellulase, 40 IU of β-glucosidase and 4 FXU of xylanase/g of substrate. However, 2% NaOH-treated wheat straw had the lowest crystalline index of 52.5%, due to destructured cellulose fibers. The results indicate the effectiveness of producing the bioethanol precursor from wheat straw by using 2% NaOH at boiling temperature.