Green approach to produce xylo-oligosaccharides and glucose by mechanical-hydrothermal pretreatment

A pretreatment method combining ball-milling, ultrasound, and hydrothermal treatment was developed to produce xylooligosaccharides (XOS) and glucose with a high yield from corn stover. Under optimal conditions, the yield of XOS reached 80.40%, and the functional XOS (X2-X4) took up to 26.97%. Small amount of inhibitors were formed during the hydrothermal process. Enzymatic hydrolysis of the hydrothermally pretreated residue gave 92.60% yield of glucose, leaving lignin as the final residue which accounted for 66.82% of native lignin. The correlations between the yield of glucose and the physio-chemical properties of corn stover, such as crystalline index, particle size, and the removal of xylan, were established to understand the recalcitrance removal during the pretreatment process. Results demonstrate that this combined pretreatment method is a green and effective process to selectively separate the hemicellulose fractions and improve both production of XOS and glucose yield.