Wheat bran biorefinery: an investigation on the starch derived glucose extraction accompanied by pre- and post-treatment steps

Wheat bran, a side product of the milling industry, can be considered as a feedstock for biorefineries. Unlike other lignocellulosic feedstock, wheat bran contains a reasonable amount of starch, which is not of recalcitrant nature. Therefore, it can be extracted without a costly pretreatment process. The present work evaluates the extraction of starch derived glucose in relation to a wheat bran biorefinery. The purity of free glucose extracted quantitatively was 44%. The extract was concentrated by threefold via nanofiltration, thereby reaching a glucose concentration of 49 g/L. Hydrothermal treatment (180°C - 20 min) of the starch-free bran did not induce the formation of hydroxymethylfurfural and levulinic acid. Interestingly, the furfural level increased compared to the process, in which bran was treated hydrothermally without a preceding starch extraction. By separation of water-extractables prior to enzymatic hydrolysis, the free glucose purity was increased to 58%, however the yield of glucose decreased to 61%.