Rapid industrialization, increasing energy demand and climate change are the driving forces to develop a clean, efficient, renewable and sustainable source of energy which have a potential to replace fossil-derived fuels. Biofuels play an indispensible role to substitute the fossil fuels. Lignocellulose biomass such as paddy straw has gained much attention from researchers because of its usability as a potential feedstock for production of bioethanol. Pretreatments are crucial for enzymatic hydrolysis of paddy straw. In present study, effectiveness of chemical pretreatment in alkaline combination with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) for increasing enzymatic hydrolysis of paddy straw has been investigated. The Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the pretreatment conditions with respect to solid loading (%, w/v), time (min.), temperature (oC) and H2O2 concentration (%, v/v). Under optimum conditions (solid loading 16.76%, time 15 min, temperature 120.97 oC, hydrogen peroxide concentration 2%), a reducing sugar concentration of 35.29 g l-1 was obtained. Hence, the present study concludes the considerable potential of alkaline hydrogen peroxide pretreatment for enhanced enzymatic saccharification of paddy straw and subsequent bioethanol production.
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