Oil Palm Biomass Pretreatment and Hydrolysis: A Recent Biotechnological Venture Towards Bio-Based Lactic Acid Production

Abstract

The effective utilisation of lignocellulosic biomass as fossil-based counterparts in the development of bio-based chemicals manufacturing is progressively relevant. Hence, many works are underway to shift from petrochemical industries to a sustainable lignocellulosic biomass biorefinery in lactic acid production. Malaysia is the leading country as a palm oil producer, with an enormous supply of inexpensive, renewable and non-food, yet untapped oil palm biomass resources. In this regard, oil palm fronds (OPF) rich in glucan content account for 60% of total agricultural biomass in Malaysia, which can accommodate 2 million metric tons per annum of fermentable sugar. The richness of carbohydrates in OPF serves as the key to unlocking bio-based lactic acid commercialization for future sustainable breakthroughs. This paper aims to provide insights into the exploitation of OPF as the novel feedstocks in bio-refinery processes. Special emphasis in this review is put on the technology, global demand, commercial status and future prospects of the production of second-generation lactic acid, as this process has received most research and development efforts so far. It reviews the current research attributed to the compositional analysis of OPF by primarily focusing on the National Renewable Energy Laboratories (NREL) protocol. It then focuses on the recent technological advancements of different pretreatment methods and hydrolysis for carbohydrate recovery in lactic acid production. Given with the tremendous potential, OPF can be exploited as an excellent sugar platform for the production of higher value products such as advanced biofuels, fine-platform chemicals and bioenergy.