Integrated Fractionation of Sugarcane Bagasse and Production of Oligosaccharides by Enzymatic Hydrolysis

Abstract

Sugarcane bagasse (SCB) is an abundant lignocellulosic by-product with high potential for the sustainable production of xylo-oligosaccharides (XOS) and cello-oligosaccharides (COS), compounds with reported functional and prebiotic applications. This study presents an integrated fractionation and hydrolysis approach to produce XOS and COS from SCB using chemical treatments and commercial enzymes. SCB was fractionated via hydrogen peroxide-acetic acid (HPAA) pretreatment followed by alkaline peroxide extraction (APE), yielding cellulosic and hemicellulosic fractions with 78.3% cellulose and 69.3% xylan, respectively. X-ray diffraction and ATR-FTIR confirmed selective lignin removal and polysaccharide enrichment. Enzymatic hydrolysis produced XOS (25.5% yield, 6 h) and COS (49.8% yield, 12 h), corresponding to an estimated production potential of 26.9 kg XOS and 203.7 kg COS per ton of raw SCB. The process exhibited a water-excluded process mass intensity (PMI) of 249.2 and an E-factor of 248.2, driven mainly by ethanol consumption; a sensitivity analysis showed that ethanol recovery efficiencies of 70–95% could lower PMI to 46–99, a 60–85% reduction. These findings demonstrate the technical feasibility of producing high-value oligosaccharides from agro-industrial waste and highlight solvent recovery as a key lever toward a more sustainable biorefinery process.