Hydrothermal pretreatment of poplar (Populus trichocarpa) wood and its impact on chemical composition and enzymatic hydrolysis yield

This paper focuses on the effect of liquid hot water pretreatment of fast-growing poplar wood in the context of bioethanol production. The milled Populus trichocarpa wood with a particle size of 0.43-1.02 mm was pretreated with liquid hot water method at temperatures range from 160ºC to 205ºC and then was subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis. The glucose and xylose content in the hydrolyzates were analyzed with high performance liquid chromatography. On the basis of results it was concluded, that increase of temperature in the hydrothermal pretreatment resulted in an increase of glucose and decrease of xylose content. However, increased temperature of the process led to inhibitor formation.