NREL researchers develop analytical procedure to enable ethanol biorefineries to better understand what fraction of their ethanol is derived from starch versus cellulose

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Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF.

NREL researchers developed a simple and highly selective analytical procedure for the determination of cellulosic glucan content in samples that contain both cellulose and starch. This method eliminates the unacceptably large compounding errors of current two-measurement methods.
Article: Sluiter, J.B., Michel, K.P., Addison, B. et al. Direct determination of cellulosic glucan content in starch-containing samples. Cellulose (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-020-03652-2.

Figure 1. An NREL researcher observes enzymes breaking down cellulose into glucose (credits: Pat Corkery / NREL)

The U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office funded researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and collaborated with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institute of Standards and Technology to address a significant challenge facing the ethanol industry. It is difficult to precisely and accurately quantify the amount of starch-derived versus cellulose-derived glucose used in ethanol production. A new method resulting from this research will enable ethanol biorefineries to better understand what fraction of their ethanol is derived from starch versus cellulose, to best maximize financial returns through advanced renewable credits and enhanced yield.

Researchers developed a simple yet highly selective process to determine cellulosic glucan content. This method, which includes the removal of starch prior to quantifying the cellulosic content, eliminates the errors inherent in the methods in use today. This selectivity for cellulosic glucan was validated with several analytical techniques including: liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, Raman spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance.

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