Evaluation of ultra- and nanofiltration for refining soluble products from rice husk xylan.

Liquors from water treatments of rice husks (containing soluble xylan-derived products) were processed with NF and UF membranes for concentrating and removing both monosaccharides and non-saccharide compounds. Among the commercial membranes assayed, the best results were achieved with the 4 kDa polymeric tubular ESP04 (PCI Membranes), and the 1 kDa ceramic monolithic Kerasep Nano (Novasep). Several trade-offs were identified both in membrane selection and in operating conditions. The ESP04 polymeric membrane provided the best fractionation, but lower recovery under comparable experimental conditions, while its fluxes were about half of those of the ceramic Kerasep Nano membrane. Increase in transmembrane pressure resulted in improved product recovery, at the expense of a lower purity. Additional data on product refining by coupling membrane processing with extraction and ion exchange are provided.

Membrane-assisted processing of xylooligosaccharide-containing liquors.

Liquors from rice husk autohydrolyis, containing xylooligosaccharides, other saccharides, and nonsaccharide compounds, were subjected to two selected processing schemes to increase the proportion of substituted xylooligosaccharides in refined liquors. Nanofiltration through a ceramic membrane with a molecular mass cutoff of 1000 Da allowed simultaneous concentration and purification; this latter derived from the preferential removal of monosaccharides and nonsaccharide compounds. When liquors were nanofiltered to achieve a volume reduction factor of 5 operating at a transmembrane pressure of 14 bar, 58.6% of the nonsaccharide components and 20.9-46.9% of monosaccharides were kept in retentate, in comparison with 92% of xylooligosaccharides and glucooligosaccharides. When nanofiltered liquors were subjected to double ion-exchange processing, a final product with a nonsaccharide content near 9 kg/100 kg of nonvolatile components was obtained at a yield of 10.90 kg/100 kg oven dry rice husks. Alternatively, when nanofiltered liquors were subjected to ethyl acetate extraction and further double ion-exchange processing, a purified product with a nonsaccharide content of 5.66 kg/100 kg of nonvolatile components was obtained at a yield of 9.94 kg/100 kg oven dry rice husks. The nonsaccharide components remaining in the final concentrate were mainly made up of phenolic and nitrogen-containing compounds.

Processing of rice husk autohydrolysis liquors for obtaining food ingredients.

Rice husks are of a lignocellulosic nature, with a hemicellulose fraction made up of substituted arabinoxylan. Rice husks were treated with hot, compressed water (autohydrolysis reaction) under optimized conditions to cause the hydrolytic degradation of arabinoxylan. The reaction products contained volatile components and nonvolatile components (NVC), which were made up of hemicellulose-derived products (substituted oligosaccharides and monosaccharides) and other nonvolatile solutes (ONVS). To decrease the content of ONVS, concentrated autohydrolysis liquors were first subjected to ethyl acetate extraction and then subjected to various alternative treatments (solvent precipitation, freeze-drying solvent extraction, or ion exchange). The resulting liquors were assayed for composition and yield determination. Material balances are presented for the several processes considered. The best results in terms of purification were obtained with sequential stages of ethyl acetate extraction and ion exchange, which led to concentrates with hemicellulose-derived compounds (sugars and substituted sugar oligomers) accounting for 92 wt % of the NVCs.