Bin Wang and Hao Feng

Abstract

Typically, lignocellulosic biomass must be deconstructed into monosaccharides for efficient conversion into biofuel by fermenting microorganisms. Natural protection mechanisms of plants against foreign intrusions such as disease-causing bacteria and viruses create obstacles to biomass deconstruction and economical production of biofuel from biomass. Large-scale production of biofuel from lignocellulosic biomass, therefore, is still a challenge to both microbiologists and engineers. A principal problem associated with deconstruction of biomass by chemical, enzymatic, or biological process is the generation of microbial inhibitory chemi­cals. Presence of these inhibitory compounds in the lignocellulosic hydrolysates inhibits growth and biofuel production by fermenting microorganisms. An additional processing step called detoxification, therefore, has often been introduced to remove these microbial inhibi­tors from hydrolysates as a way of mitigating their negative effects on the fermenting micro­organisms. Efforts have been made over the years to develop effective detoxification processes with chemical, physical, or biological methods. This chapter, detoxification of lignocellulosic hydrolysates, will focus on the technical aspects of lignocellulosic hydrolysates detoxification approaches and their potential applications in biomass-to-fuel production.