Optimization of thermo-chemical pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of kitchen wastes.

The use of abundant waste materials with high carbohydrate content may contribute substantially to reduction of biofuels production cost. The present study aimed at optimizing the combined effect of thermo-chemical pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of kitchen wastes (KW) for maximizing the production of fermentable soluble sugars. To this end, acid pretreatment of KW samples was performed with hydrochloric acid (0-3% HCl) at 30-100 °C for 0-120 min treatment time.