Residual biomass saccharification in processing tomato is affected by cultivar and nitrogen fertilization

M. R. Ercolano, L. D. Gomez*, A. Andolfi, R. Simister, C. Troise, G. Angelino, C. Borrelli, S. J. McQueen-Mason, A. Evidente, L. Frusciante, G. Caruso

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Two processing tomato hybrids and five N fertilization rates were evaluated regarding their biomass, fruit yield, and saccharification potential. Although no difference was detected between the hybrids, both for fruit and residual biomass yield, 106kgha-1N fertilization rate showed the highest fruit mass and 186kgha-1 resulted in the highest residual biomass production.The biomass in the hybrid Kero had higher content of total and crystalline cellulose compared to Defender. N fertilization significantly changed biomass composition. Eighty kg ha-1 N led to the highest lignin, hemicellulose and pectin content, whereas the 159kgha-1 applications caused the highest percentage of total and crystalline cellulose. Xylose was the most abundant monosaccharide in hemicelluloses, whereas fucose was the lest abundant. The hybrid Kero gave higher ethanol potential production than Defender and both hybrids reached the highest values under 159kgha-1 of N. Alkali pre-treatment caused the highest values of saccharification and hot water the lowest. The hybrid Kero showed higher saccharification potential than Defender and 159kgha-1N fertilization rate led to the best results. We show that tomato residual biomass is an interesting lignocellulosic feedstock for ethanol production and both hybrid and nitrogen fertilization rate significantly affects the biomass chemical composition and saccharification potential of the residual biomass.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)242-250
Number of pages9
JournalBiomass & bioenergy
Volume72
Early online date18 Nov 2014
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2015

Keywords

  • Biomass
  • Nitrogen
  • Pretreatments
  • Saccharification
  • Second generation biofuels
  • Solanum lycopersicum L.

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