AMMONIA PRETREATMENT OF BIOMASS FOR IMPROVED INHIBITOR PROFILE

摘要

Methods for treating biomass for release of fermentable sugars with an improved inhibitor profile are provided. Specifically, a hydrolysate comprising fermentable sugars with an improved inhibitor profile is obtained by saccharification of a reaction product obtained by pretreating biomass with ammonia under suitable reaction conditions. The pretreated biomass reaction product has an acetamide to acetate molar ratio greater than about 1 and an acetyl conversion of greater than 60%. The acetamide to acetate molar ratio is maintained greater than about 1 throughout saccharification. The hydrolysate may be fermented to a target compound.