The green novel approach in hydrolysis of pistachio shell into xylose by microwave-assisted high-pressure CO /H O.

Background: Pistachio shell is a valuable lignocellulosic biomass because almost 90% of its hemicellulose fraction is xylan, which can be converted into high value-added compounds such as xylooligosaccarides, xylose, xylitol and furfural. The present study represents a green and novel approach to produce xylose from lignocellulosic biomass. Microwave-assisted high-pressure CO /H O hydrolysis (MW-HPCO ) comprising a combination never previously used was performed to produce xylose from pistachio shell.

Results: Response surface methodology with a Box-Behnken design was implemented to optimize microwave-assisted high-pressure CO /H O hydrolysis (MW-HPCO ). The effect of temperature, time and liquid-to-solid ratio was studied in the ranges of 180-210 °C, 10-30 min and 5-30 mL g , respectively. A maximum xylose yield of 61.39% and minimum degradation compounds (5-hydroxymethyl furfural and furfural) of 11.07% were attained under reaction conditions of 190 °C, 30 min and 18 mL g .

Conclusion: The results showed that hydrolysis temperature, time and liquid-to-solid ratio had a strong influence on the xylose yield, as well as on the formation of degradation compounds. MW-HPCO significantly increased accessibility to cellulose-derived products in the subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis. The results of the present study reveal that MW-HPCO can be a promising green technique for the hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass. © 2023 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.