Volume 24: Sustainable Energy Solutions for a Post-COVID Recovery towards a Better Future: Part VII

Fractionated digestive juices of Nepenthes mirabilis for reducible sugar production and phenolic compound’s reduction from mixed agrowaste pretreatment Angadam JO, Ntwampe SKO, Chidi BC, Lim J-W, Okudoh VI, Hewitt PL

Abstract

This paper provides a performance assessment of different fractions of crude plant digestive juices produced by Nepenthes mirabilis (N. mirabilis) which were used to pretreat mixed agro-waste to determine which fraction produces more holocelluloses while reducing phenolic compounds in the hydrolysate. Fractionation (<3kDa, ˃ 3kDa and <10kDa, ˃ 10kDa) was done with the different fractions being used to pretreat the mixed agro-waste (1:1 ratio, i.e., 25% (w/w) for each; 1 g orange peels, 1 g apples peels, 1 g maize cobs, 1 g grape pomace and 1 g oak plant yard litter) of various particle sizes, i.e., >106µm, >75µm <106µm. The highest results obtained indicated 46,63 (min) to 115,19 (max) g/L for total reducing sugars (TRS) production with a maximum of 6,61 g/L for total residual phenolic compounds (TRPCs) being observed using the <10 kDa/>106µm fraction/particle size of N. mirabilis/agrowaste after 72 hrs, revealing the efficacy of different juice fractions to pretreat the agro-waste. Overall, the digestive enzymes in N. mirabilis pods must be fractionated for agro-waste pretreatment, i.e., using a green chemistry approach for the development of biorefineries, for sustainable renewable energy generation and security.

Keywords Green biomass pretreatment, lignocellulosic waste, Nepenthes mirabilis, phenolic compounds, reducible sugars