Alkali pretreatment and acid hydrolysis of coconut pulp and empty fruit bunch to produce glucose

Abstract

Lignocellulose waste has great potential to be converted into value added products sustainably as it is readily available at low cost. The aim of this study is to examine the amount of glucose produced from coconut pulp and coconut empty fruit bunch using acid hydrolysis. Sodium hydroxide pretreatment is carried out at 70oC using different concentrations of sodium hydroxide which are 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% v/v for a duration time of 2 hours. Optimum pretreatment is evaluated using Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) analysis. It is observed that optimum pretreatment is at 20% v/v sodium hydroxide. The optimum samples are then hydrolysed using concentrations of 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% v/v of sulphuric acid at different temperatures of 30, 50, 70 and 90oC for 2 hours. Glucose concentration is analysed using an ultraviolet (UV) Spectrophotometer. The highest glucose concentrations obtained are 0.895 g/L and 0.550g/L for coconut pulp and coconut empty fruit bunch, respectively at 20% v/v acid concentration and a temperature of 90oC.