Xylose Recovery from Pineapple Peel Biomass by Mild Acid Hydrolysis

Abstract

Waste disposal issue is among of highly concerned issue all over the world. In Malaysia, this waste usually ends up being in landfills. This is not any exception especially in agriculture and manufacturing industry whose has to deal with many-by-products after a production. Thus, in this study focuses on by-product from canning and beverage industry which is pineapple peel for its xylose recovery. The aim of this recovery is to provide cost effective means of producing high-end product such xylitol. In this study, crucial parameter of mild hydrolysis was optimized by using One-Factor at Time (OFAT) method. Batch hydrolysis was carried out with the following parameters: acid concentration (0.5–7%), residence time (5–50 min), and temperature (80–130 0C). As a result, the highest xylose concentration obtains around 20 g/L under the condition of 5 % nitric acid concentration, 105°C for 20 min residence time. The result showed this method can yield up to 85 % of actual xylose concentration from the hemicellulose degradation. Altogether, the finding of this study is beneficial to the pineapple industry, especially in light of recent discussion in terms of waste disposal issue and its impact on greenhouse gas emission.