Pretreatment methods for an effective conversion of oil palm biomass into sugars and high-value chemicals

Oil palm biomass is a readily available raw material for production of green chemicals such as levulinic acid and ethanol. One of the major problems on the conversion of this biomass into valuable chemicals is limited accessibility for catalysts and enzymes to penetrate inside the cellulosic materials of the biomass. Furthermore, the presence of lignin may affect the efficiency of the conversion process due to the recalcitrance nature of the lignin. This paper highlights several pretreatment methods to improve the production of valuable substances from oil palm biomass including reducing sugars and derivatives. A well-designed pretreatment method is essential to enhance the effectiveness of subsequent conversion process into high-value chemicals. This paper attempts to provide an insight into the advantages and disadvantages of all pretreatment methods on oil palm biomass. The review focuses also on the efficiencies of different pretreatments on the hydrolysis reaction of oil palm biomass.