Hydrothermal Pretreatment of Water-Extracted and Aqueous Ethanol-Extracted Quinoa Stalks for Enzymatic Saccharification of Cellulose

Auto-catalyzed hydrothermal pretreatment (A-HTP) and sulfuric-acid-catalyzed (SA-HTP) were applied to quinoa stalks in order reduce their recalcitrance towards enzymatic saccharification. Prior pretreatment, extracted with either water or a 50:50 (v/v) ethanol–water mixture for removing saponins. Extraction aqueous ethanol, respectively, led removal of 52 75% (w/w) the saponins contained raw material. Preliminary extraction allowed lower overall severity during it an increase glucan recovery pretreated solids (above 90%) compared that non-extracted (73–74%). Furthermore, preliminary resulted enhanced hydrolysis hemicelluloses by-product formation pretreatment. The enhancement by pre-extraction was more noticeable SA-HTP than A-HTP. As result susceptibility remarkably improved, conversion values higher pre-extracted materials (up 83%) ones (64–69%). Higher achieved ethanol-extracted (72–83%) water-extracted material (65–74%).