Fractionation of plant-cuticle-based bio-oils by microwave-assisted methanolysis combined with hydrothermal pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis.

Microwave-assisted methanolysis was performed to fractionate a mixture of fatty acid methyl-esters from the cuticles of various wild plants and agricultural wastes. A combination of hydrothermal pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis effectively removed hemicellulose and cellulose to afford plant cuticles concentrated in residual materials. The subsequent methanolysis treatment afforded bio-oil from plant cuticles in ∼10% yield with a maximum higher heating value (HHV) of 32 MJ kg from bagasse. The proposed cascading treatments allow the total use of herbaceous soft biomass by utilizing hemicellulose and cellulose fractions as well as plant cuticles to produce bio-oils with high HHVs.