Avaliação do potencial de cactáceas para aplicações em processos biotecnológicos.

Abstract

The search for clean energy, the use of renewable raw materials and that have a biotechnological interest has been growing more and more. Lignocellulosic biomass is an economically viable source in which chemical energy can be released through chemical and thermochemical processes. The objective of this work was to evaluate the applicability of biomass of plants and fruits from the semiarid region as potential raw materials in the generation of bioproducts and biofuels. For this, the stem and mandacaru fruit (Cereus jamacaru P.DC.), forage palm rafts (Opuntia ficus indica Mill) and the fruit of the foxtail (Harrisia adscendens) were used as biomass. The determination of the dry biomass composition was carried out by determining the moisture content, ashes, extractives, lignin and holocellulose (cellulose + hemicellulose), as well as determining the amount of reducing sugars by the DNS (3,5-Dinitrosalicylic acid) method. From the results analyzed, it was demonstrated that the palm and mandacaru present higher moisture contents, that is, they are the two materials that presented in their constitution a greater amount of water. The largest extractive fractions were found in mandacaru and foxtail fruits, probably due to the large amount of seeds in their constitution. In relation to holocellulose, a fraction composed of cellulose and hemicellulose, it was possible to verify significant values in all the biomasses used, mainly for palm and mandacaru, with values higher than 60%. The highest lignin content was observed for mandacaru, which presented 17.64% of this constituent. As for the reducing sugars, the fruits presented the highest values, allowing their use in fermentative processes, such as those applied for the generation of ethanol and products such as xylitol. Thus, the cactaceae used are presented as an important alternative for the production of biotechnological products and alternative energy