Pretreatment Empty Fruit Bunch of Oil Palm Tree for Improving Enzymatic Saccharification

Abstract

Empty fruit bunch of oil palm tree (EFBOPT), solid waste of palm oil industries, is potential for raw materials of biofuel especially bioethanol production because of its cellulose and hemicellulose contents. There are four steps to produce bioethanol, called the second generation bioethanol, from EFBOPT or other lignocellulosic materials. The steps are (a) pretreatment of lignocellulose biomass into cellulose/hemicellu- lose, (b) hydrolysis of cellulose/hemicellulose into monosaccharides, (c) fermentation of monosaccharides into bioethanol, and (d) recovery of bioethanol from medium fermentation broth. Pretreatment steps are the key success factor to convert lignocellulosic materials into bioethanol. This paper will review EFBOPT and pretreatment steps, including physical pretreatments, physicochemical pretreatments, and biological pretreatments.