Manufacture of xylose-based fermentation media from corncobs by posthydrolysis of autohydrolysis liquors.

Milled corncob samples were mixed with water and heated to obtain a liquid phase containing oligosaccharides, sugars, and acetic acid as main reaction products (autohydrolysis reaction). To hydrolyze the sugar oligomers to the correspondent monomers, sulfuric acid was added to the autohydrolysis liquors to reach 0.5-2 wt% of solution, and the reaction media were heated at 101.5-135 degrees C. With this operational procedure, sugar solutions suitable as fermentation media (containing xylose as the major component) were obtained. The kinetics of the posthydrolysis step was characterized on the basis of experimental data concerning the time courses of the concentrations of xylooligosaccharides, xylose, furfural, and acetic acid. The concentrations of other reaction byproducts (glucose or arabinose) were also measured.