Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The effect of organic nitrogenous compound content and different pretreatments on agricultural lignocellulosic biomass characterization methods

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Cellulose Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Considering the diverse compounds contained in lignocellulosic biomasses, especially in agricultural biomass, and the complexity of the different chemical and physical structural connections between these compounds, appropriate analytical methods must be used to characterize these biomasses. In this study, two extraction processes and two analytical methods were used to characterize the main compounds in corn stover residue before and after different pretreatments. The results of this study suggest that pretreatment and organic nitrogenous compound content greatly affect the most common extraction processes and analytical methods used for biomass characterization. For raw corn stover biomass residue, the extraction process using neutral detergent fiber solvent removed more extractives and more organic nitrogenous compounds (18.5 and 2.4%, respectively) than the combination of extractions using water and ethanol (13.4% of extractives and 1.8% of organic nitrogenous compounds). This study also showed that the different pretreatments improve the efficiency of both extraction processes and that these processes seem to be more effective with the neutral detergent solvent extraction than the combination of extractions with water and ethanol. Organic nitrogenous compounds represent a significant proportion of agricultural biomasses; therefore, insufficient organic nitrogenous compound extraction can cause interference with different characterization methods. It was observed that, for the same analytical method and with the raw biomass, the value of insoluble lignin after the extractions with water and ethanol was higher than that obtained after the extraction with the neutral detergent solvent 16.1 and 13.2%, respectively. This can be explained by the fact that there are more organic nitrogenous compounds in the samples after the extraction with water and ethanol than in the samples after the extraction with the neutral detergent solvent. This result was also observed for the pretreated samples. These results, therefore, show that the extraction step is very important because it can remove more organic nitrogenous compounds before the main compounds are characterized (lignin, carbohydrates).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

ADF:

Acid detergent fiber

ADL:

Acid detergent lignin

CEL:

Cellulose sample

CN:

Biomass pretreated by cooking in NaOH

CW:

Biomass pretreated by cooking in water

EWE:

Extraction with water and ethanol

ENDF:

Extraction with Neutral detergent fiber

EXT:

Biomass pretreated with reactive extrusion

KL:

Klason lignin

ND:

Neutral detergent

NDF:

Neutral detergent fiber

NREL:

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

ONC:

Organic nitrogenous compound

RB:

Raw biomass

References

  • Boerjan W, Ralph J, Baucher M (2003) Lignin biosynthesis. Plant Biol 54:519–546

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Carpita N, McCann M (2000) The cell wall. In: Buchanan B, Gruissem W, Jones R (eds) Biochemistry and molecular biology of plants. American Society of Plant Physiologists, Rockville, pp 52–108

    Google Scholar 

  • Colas D, Doumeng C, Pontalier PY, Rigal L (2013a) Twin-screw extrusion technology, an original solution for the extraction of proteins from alfalfa (Medicago sativa). Food Bioprod Process 91:175–182

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Colas D, Doumeng C, Pontalier PY, Rigal L (2013b) Green crop fractionation by twin-screw extrusion: influence of the screw profile on alfalfa (Medicago sativa) dehydration and protein extraction. Chem Eng Process 72:1–9

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dagnino EP, Chamorro ER, Romano SD, Felissia FE, Area MC (2013) Optimization of the acid pretreatment of rice hulls to obtain fermentable sugars for bioethanol production. Ind Crop Prod 42:363–368

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Diop A, Barnabé S, Adjallé K, Montplaisir D, Ben Amor A (2014) Avancées scientifiques et technologiques de la valorisation de la lignine. Le Biosourcé 1(8):1–34

    Google Scholar 

  • Ebringerová A, Hromádková Z, Heinze T (2005) Hemicellulose. Adv Polym Sci 186:1–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Englyst H, Quigley M, Hudson G (1994) Determination of dietary fibre as non-starch polysaccharides with gas-liquid chromatographic, high-performance liquid chromatographic or spectrophotometric measurement of constituent sugars. Analyst 119:1497–1509

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Genestie B (2006) Optimisation de la production d’arabinoxylooligosaccharides d’intérêt biologique à partir de sons de céréales, approches méthodologiques. Thèse de doctorat, Université de Limoges (France)

  • Godin B, Agneessens R, Gofflot S, Lamaudière S, Sinnaeve G, Gerin PA, Delcarte J (2011a) Revue bibliographique sur les méthodes d’analyse des polysaccharides structuraux des biomasses lignocellulosiques. Biotechnol Agro Soc Environ 15:165–182

    Google Scholar 

  • Godin B, Agneessens R, Gerin PA, Delcarte J (2011b) Composition of structural carbohydrates in biomass: precision of a liquid chromatography method using a neutral detergent extraction and a charged aerosol detector. Talanta 85:2014–2026

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Godin B, Lamaudière S, Agneessens R, Schmit T, Goffart J-P, Stilmant D, Gerin PA, Delcarte J (2013a) Chemical characteristic and biofuel potential of several vegetal biomasses grown under a wide range of environmental conditions. Ind Crop Prod 48:1–12

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Godin B, Lamaudière S, Agneessens R, Schmit T, Goffart J-P, Stilmant D, Gerin PA, Delcarte J (2013b) Chemical characteristics and biofuels potentials of various plant biomasses: influence of the harvesting date. J Sci Food Agric 93:3216–3224

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Godin B, Agneessens R, Gerin P, Delcarte J (2015) Lignin in plant biomasses: comparative metrological assessment of the detergent fiber and the insoluble dietary fiber methods. Cellulose 22:2325–2340

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ha MA, Apperly DC, Evans BW, Huxham IM, Jardine WG, Vietor RJ (1998) Fine structure in cellulose microfibrils: NMR evidence from onion and quince. Plant J 16:183–190

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hatfield R, Fukushima RS (2005) Can lignin be accurately measured? Crop Sci 45(3):832–839

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Izydorczyk M, Macri L, MacGregor A (1998a) Structure and physiochemical properties of barley non-starch polysaccharides-I. Water-extractable β-glucans and arabinoxylans. Carbohydr Polym 35:249–258

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Izydorczyk M, Macri L, MacGregor A (1998b) Structure and physiochemical properties of barley non-starch polysaccharides- II. Alkali-extractable β-glucans and arabinoxylans. Carbohydr Polym 35:259–269

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jiang Z, Fei B, Li Z (2016) Pretreatment of bamboo by ultra-high pressure explosion with a high-pressure homogenizer for enzymatic hydrolysis and ethanol fermentation. Bioresour Technol 214:876–880

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jung H-JG, Varel VH, Weimer PJ, Ralph J (1999) Accuracy of Klason and detergent lignin methods as assessed by bomb calorimetry. J Agric food Chem 47:2005–2008

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kim I, Seo YH, Kim G-Y, Han J-I (2015) Co-production of bioethanol and biodiesel from corn stover pretreated with nitric acid. Fuel 143:285–289

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Olsson L, Hahn-Häigerdal B (1996) Fermentation of lignocellulosic hydrolysates for ethanol production. Enzyme Microb Technol 18:312–331

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Prosky L (1985) Determination of total dietary fiber in foods and food products: collaborative study. AOAC J 68(4):677–679

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Scheller HV, Ulvskov P (2010) Hemicelluloses. Plant Biol 61:263–289

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sluiter A, Hames B, Ruiz R, Scarlata C, Sluiter J, Templeton D, Crocker D (2008a) Determination of structural carbohydrates and lignin in biomass. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Analytical Procedure, Technical report NREL/TP-510-42618

  • Sluiter A, Ruiz R, Scarlata C, Sluiter J, Templeton D (2008b) Determination of extractives in biomass. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Analytical Procedure, Technical report NREL/TP-510-42619

  • Sluiter JB, Ruiz RO, Scarlata CJ, Sluiter AD, Templeton DW (2010) Compositional analysis of lignocellulosic feedstocks. Review and description of methods. J Agric Food Chem 58:9043–9053

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sun R, Lawther M, Banks W (1995) Influence of alkaline pre-treatments on the cell wall components of wheat straw. Ind Crop Prod 4:127–145

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sun S, Sun S, Cao X, Sun R (2016) The role of pretreatment in improving the enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic materials. Bioresour Technol 199:49–58

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor NG (2008) Cellulose biosynthesis and deposition in higher plants. New Phytol 178:239–252

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Timilsena YP, Audu IG, Rakshit SK, Brosse N (2013) Impact of the lignin structure of three lignocellulosic feedstocks on their organosolv delignification. Effect of carbonium ion scavengers. Biomass Bioenergy 52:151–158

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Van Soest P, Robertson J, Lewis B (1991) Methods for dietary fiber, detergent fiber, and non-starch polysaccharides in relation to animal nutrition. J Dairy Sci 74:3583–3597

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang H-Y, Qian H, Yao W-R (2011) Melanoidins produced by the Maillard reaction: structure and biological activity. Food Chem 128:573–584

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wasserman BP, Wan L, Chan K (1992) Molecular transformations of starch and protein during twin-screw extrusion processing of cornmeal. Food extrusion, science and technology. Dekker M. Inc., New York, pp 325–333

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson S, Greetham D, Tucker GA (2016) Evaluation of different lignocellulosic biomass pretreatments by phenotypic microarray-based metabolic analysis of fermenting yeast. Biofuel Res J 3(1):357–365

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu J, Thomsen MH, Thomsen AB (2009) Enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentability of corn stover pretreated by lactic acid and/or acetic acid. J Biotechnol 139:300–305

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xu F, Yu J, Tesso T, Dowell F, Wang D (2013) Qualitative and quantitative analysis of lignocellulosic biomass using infrared techniques: a mini-review. Appl Energy 104:801–809

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors sincerely thank the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada, for their financial support. The authors would also like to thank the Ferme Olivier and Sébatien Lépine of Agrosphere Co. (Québec, Canada). The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors. Kokou Adjalle and Louis-Vincent Larose are grateful to Mitacs for the scholarship.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, 3351 Boulevard des Forges, Trois-Rivières, QC, G9A 5H7, Canada

    K. Adjalle, J. Bley & S. Barnabé

  2. Innofibre, 3351 Boulevard des Forges, Québec, G9A 5E6, Canada

    J. Bley

  3. Les herbes Gourmandes, 5243, Chemin Saint-Alphonse, Rawdon, QC, J0K 1S0, Canada

    L.-V. Larose

Authors
  1. K. Adjalle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. L.-V. Larose
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. J. Bley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. S. Barnabé
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to K. Adjalle.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Adjalle, K., Larose, LV., Bley, J. et al. The effect of organic nitrogenous compound content and different pretreatments on agricultural lignocellulosic biomass characterization methods. Cellulose 24, 1395–1406 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-017-1199-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-017-1199-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation