Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation

United States of America, As Represented by the Secretary of Agriculture

Xuejun Pan

Li Shuai

Roland L Gleisner

Jun Yong Zhu

Ning Li

Gaosheng Wang

Provided herein are methods for preparing prebiotic oligosaccharides by non-enzymatic methods of glycosylation of monosaccharides and/or disaccharides or by hydrolysis of polymeric sugars to monosaccharides and simultaneous glycosylation of hydrolytic products. The methods may include mixing one or more types of monosaccharides and/or disaccharides with a water-deficient system at a temperature sufficient to form one or more types of prebiotic oligosaccharides. Also provided are methods of preparing prebiotic oligosaccharides comprising mixing starch, cellulose and/or lignocellulosic biomass with a water-deficient system at a temperature sufficient to form one or more types of prebiotic oligosaccharides that collectively make up at least 25% of the products of the synthesis.

Methods of producing oligosaccharides for use as prebiotics

A process that directly converts carbohydrates, particularly biomass derived carbohydrates and more specifically biomass (e.g., lignocellulosic biomass), to furfural-/HMF-ketone adducts for liquid hydrocarbon production under mild conditions.

Method for producing liquid hydrocarbon fuels directly from lignocellulosic biomass

An efficient process for saccharifying lignocellulosic biomass in concentrated aqueous solutions of certain bromine salts, particularly LiBr and CaBr. Real lignocellulose biomass, such as corn stover, switchgrass, waste paper, hardwood, and softwood, can be hydrolyzed without the need for any prior pretreatment. Complete saccharification of both cellulose and hemicellulose is achieved within 5-200 min at temperatures ranging from about 100 to about 160&#xb0; C. Residual lignin is readily separated from product sugars by filtration or centrifugation and can be used to prepare beneficial coproducts. The bromine salt can be recovered and separated from product sugars (predominantly monosaccharides) by any art-known method and in particular solvent extraction, anti-solvent precipitation, ion-exclusion chromatography and/or ion-exchange chromatography can be employed. Hydrolysis product containing sugars can be employed for in fermentation for the production of value added products or useful fuels.

Saccharification of lignocellulosic biomass

The present invention relates to a method using sulfite pretreatment to overcome recalcitrance of lignocellulose (SPORL). More specifically, it relates to a sulfite-based chemical process for pretreating biomass in solutions to reduce access barriers of enzymes to the lignocellulose, resulting in efficient conversion through enzymatic saccharification.

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Fitchburg, WI, United States of America

Xuejun Pan