Biomass Fractionation Based on Enzymatic Hydrolysis for Biorefinery Systems

A biorefinery system scheme has developed great interest in researchers and industries to obtaining products. A biorefinery is based on efficient use of different types of raw material, such as biomass, for integrated or simultaneous obtaining of several kinds of value-added products. Among used biomass, it is highlighted the vegetable sources, which can come from agro-industrial crops or from waste of biomass processing. There is an extensive variety of biomass that implicates diverse conversion process. Lignocellulosic biomass, in particular, can be transformed into biobased products by different conversion stages. Biofuels, biopolymers, and others bioproducts come from several types of biomass and various processes. One of the most important phases in the transformation process is the hydrolysis, which can be performed by conventional (chemical) and non-conventional (biological) routes. Enzymatic hydrolysis process allows to breakdown chemical structures into smaller molecules, which can be took in advantage for generation of value-added products at subsequent stages in biorefineries.