Improved Sugars Release from Chili Post-harvest Residues by Dilute Acid Assisted Lime Pretreatment

Lignocellulosic biomass seems promising renewable feedstocks for the production of biofuels and other value-added products. It is composed of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin, which are connected by several intra-and inter-polymer linkages. For effective utilization of these components, it is necessary to de-construct the biomass in to individual components, which is carried out by various pretreatment techniques. In this work, chili post-harvest residues were used for the generation of sugars with ultimate aim of producing bioethanol. Optimization of various pretreatment process parameters affecting dilute acid assisted lime pretreatment were carried out by adopting a Taguchi design. Results showed best conditions of pretreatment as biomass loading of 10 % (w/w), incubation time of 30 min, Ca(OH) 2 concentration of 2 % (w/w) and HNO 3 concentration of 5 % (w/w), which resulted a maximum of reducing sugar yield of 0.622 g/g.