Statistical optimization of enzymatic saccharification of acid pretreated Parthenium hysterophorus biomass using response surface methodology

The Parthenium hysterophorus biomass has been pretreated using sulphuric acid to improve fermentable sugar recovery. In the first phase, a mild concentration of sulphuric acid was used for pretreatment of the biomass followed by enzymatic saccharification. The total carbohydrate content of the dry biomass was estimated to be approximately 51.14 +/- 0.98 gm percent whereas the lignin content was calculated to be 26.60 +/- 0.180 gm percent. The biomass complexity and structure was investigated using the X-ray diffraction method. Analysis revealed a 63.01% crystallinity index of acid pretreated biomass. Optimization of enzymatic saccharification was performed using a Box-Behnken design in response surface methodology (RSM). The variables taken were substrate concentration, working volume, temperature and enzyme loading to achieve maximum yield. It was observed that enzymatic saccharification worked well with 2.0 ml enzyme load, 2.0 g substrate concentration, 30 ml of working volume and incubation temperature of 35 degrees C for 72 h. The data obtained from RSM were validated using ANOVA. After optimization, the predicted values were in agreement with the experimental values. This study indicated that Parthenium hysterophorus can be used as a potential and inexpensive biomass source for the commercial production of biofuel.