The hydrogen peroxide, a green impregnating agent suitable for lignocellulosic biomass to bioethanol process, was used to pretreat sugarcane bagasse by steam explosion. Two different concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (0.2% and 1%) were investigated. Then, the biomass was hydrolyzed after pretreatment using cellulase. The amount released of: (i) cellobiose; (ii) monosaccharides, as glucose, xylose, arabinose and mannose and (iii) lignocellulose derived by-products, as furans and small organic acids (acetic, formic, and levulinic acid), was evaluated in the hydrolysate samples, previously pretreated both in the presence and absence of impregnating agent. By adding of hydrogen peroxide in steam-pretreatment, the average yield increase was 12% for glucose and as high as 34% for xylose, and cellobiose yield was decreased of about 30%. No significant increase has been observed in arabinose and mannose yield. Furthermore, the hydrogen peroxide seems not increased the formation of lignocellulose derived by-products during pretreatment process, with the exception of the levulinic acid. © 2017 Science Press

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