the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of steam treatment on nutritive value of date (phoenix dactylifera) leaves. date leaves were chopped and mixed with water or sulfuric acid solution to contain 50% moisture with or without 1% sulfuric acid. steam treatment of the date leaves was carried out using three levels of steam pressure (14, 17 and 20 bar), three reaction times (120, 180...

Flowthrough pretreatment with hot water only offers many promising features for advanced pretreatment of biomass, and a better understand- ing of the mechanisms responsible for flowthrough behavior could allow researchers to capitalize on key attributes while overcoming limitations. In this study, the effect of fluid velocity on the fate of total mass, hemicellulose, and lignin was evaluated fo...

In this study, efforts were taken to compare solubilization of Avicel and AFEX pretreated corn stover (AFEX CS) by SSF and Clostridium thermocellum fermentation, with an aim to gain insights into microbial conversion of pretreated cellulosic biomass. Solubilization rates for AFEX CS are comparable for the two systems while solubilization of Avicel is much faster by C. thermocellum. Initial cata...

In this study, alkaline peroxide oxidation pretreatment was evaluated for sugarcane bagasse, a lignocellulosic biomass. By comparing the effects of NaOHH2O2 and Ca(OH)2 on pretreatments at specified reaction time periods (3, 6, 9, and 12 h) and reaction temperatures (60, 70, 80, and 90 h), optimum responses in term of cellulose content, hemicellulose solubilization, and lignin removal were esta...

BACKGROUND Among themophilic consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) candidate organisms, environmental isolates of Clostridium clariflavum have demonstrated the ability to grow on xylan, and the genome of C. clariflavum DSM 19732 has revealed a number of mechanisms that foster solubilization of hemicellulose that are distinctive relative to the model cellulolytic thermophile Clostridium thermocellum....

Softening characteristics were investigated in three types of pear fruit, namely, European pear 'La France', Chinese pear 'Yali', and Japanese pear 'Nijisseiki'. 'La France' fruit softened dramatically and developed a melting texture during ripening, while 'Yali' fruit with and without propylene treatment showed no change in flesh firmness and texture during ripening. Non-treated 'Nijisseiki' d...

Background Hydrothermal pretreatment using liquid hot water (LHW) is capable of substantially reducing the cell wall recalcitrance of lignocellulosic biomass. It enhances the saccharification of polysaccharides, particularly cellulose, into glucose with relatively low capital required. Due to the close association with biomass recalcitrance, the structural change of the components of lignocellu...

BACKGROUND Autohydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass in liquid hot water has been widely studied owing to its high efficiency and relatively low cost. In the perspective of industrial applications, continuous or semi-continuous processes are more interesting than batch systems. Moreover, microwave heating of pretreatment systems has been proposed to intensify the kinetics of the process. In thi...

Softening and pathogen susceptibility are the major factors limiting the marketing of blueberries as fresh fruits, and these traits are associated with fruit cell wall structure. However, few studies that characterize wall modifications occurring during development and ripening have been reported for this fruit. In this study the ripening-associated modifications of blueberry fruit cell walls (...

Chopped wheat straw, containing increasing amounts of added water was treated with a constant level of ammonia (3.3 percent of straw dry matter) as ammonium hydroxide, and stored for I to 60 days before determing in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVD MD), nitrogen content and fiber-bound nitrogen (ADF-N) versus free ammonia nitrogen (NH3N) of the treated sample. The overall improvement (e.g., ...