Impact of surfactant assisted acid and alkali pretreatment on lignocellulosic structure of pine foliage and optimization of its saccharification parameters using response surface methodology.

In present study, two hybrid methods such as surfactant assisted acid pretreatment (SAAP) and surfactant assisted base pretreatment (SABP) of pine foliage (PF) were found efficient for removal of 59.53 ± 0.76% and 73.47 ± 1.03% lignin, respectively. Assessment of the impact of pretreatment over the structure of PF were studied by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared and X-ray diffraction analysis. Parameters for saccharification of SAAP and SABP biomass were optimized by Box-Behnken design method and 0.588 g/g and 0.477 g/g of reducing sugars were obtained, respectively. The ethanol fermentation efficiency of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (NCIM 3288) of hydrolysates was increased by 16.1% and 6.01% in SAAP-PFF and SABP-PFF after detoxification with XAD-4 resin. The mass balance analysis of the process showed that 67.7% and 70.12% cellulose were utilized during SAAP and SABP, respectively. These results indicated that SAAP would be more economic for bioethanol production.