Giant reed (Arundo donax L.), a perennial, herbaceous crop of Poaceae family, offers good potential as lignocellulosic feedstock for second generation bioethanol production due to its high productivity and carbohydrate composition. In a previous study we performed the first attempt at dilute-oxalic acid (OA) pretreatment of giant reed. The effect of temperature (170-190 °C), acid loading (2-10% w/w) and reaction time (15-40 min) were treated as a single parameter, Combined Severity (CS). In the present study we explore the alteration of hemicelluloses, cellulose and lignin following pretreatment and glucan conversion after enzymatic hydrolysis. A mass balance for xylose, the main sugar present in the hydrolysates after pretreatment and glucan, which was derived by enzymatic saccharification of the solid fraction, were considered for fermentation in second generation ethanol production.

Proceedings of the 18th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 3-7 May 2010, Lyon, France, pp. 1409-1413