Structure of corn bran hemicelluloses isolated with aqueous ethanol solutions and their potential to produce furfural

The alkali-soluble hemicelluloses extracted with 10% KOH solution from corn bran were further isolated with different concentrations of aqueous ethanol solutions. Herein 92.2% of the original hemicelluloses can be obtained and the cellulase enzymatic hydrolysis rate of the alkali treated corn bran can reach to 97.2%. The corn bran hemicelluloses were mainly glucuronoarabinoxylan, in which xylose (48.4-53.8%) and arabinose (27.8-33.2%) were the main components. More linear hemicelluloses with high molecular weight tended to be precipitated in low concentration aqueous ethanol solutions. Furthermore, the relationship between the structural features of these alkali-soluble corn bran hemicelluloses and their furfural yield was investigated in MIBK (methyl isobutyl ketone)/H₂O biphasic system. Results showed that the hemicelluloses with high xylose content are benefit to the furfural production, and the highest furfural yield of 67.7% was obtained.