化工系吳嘉文教授跨國團隊研究 農業廢棄物回收有用成分

臺灣大學化工系吳嘉文教授與國際研究人員成功研究東南亞農業廢棄物的回收利用方法並從廢物中產生食物和藥物的有用成分。

化工系吳嘉文教授與來自澳大利亞，印度和孟加拉的國際研究人員成功地開發了一種方法，將農業生物質轉化為商業上高價值食品和藥物成分。已知大多數大規模作物會產生大量的非食用生物質，研究利用這些廢物轉化為具有經濟價值的產品將為這些作物增加重要的價值。

新方法(請參考相關連結)比現有的轉換方法“更便宜，更環保，更高效”，因為所使用的催化劑BAILs( Brnsted acidic ionic liquids )是可回收利用的，研究人員使用了來自印度和孟加拉國不同地區的原料生物質，如甘蔗渣，稻殼，麥稈，棉稈，玉米芯和低等級黃麻，並將其轉化為高價值的化學品，如木糖和阿拉伯糖，糠醛和HMF [羥甲基糠醛]。木糖和阿拉伯糖可以使用於食品中，此類甜味劑被認為比傳統糖更健康。糠醛及其衍生物可以作為“殺菌劑，殺蟲劑，藥物和生物塑料，增味劑來使用，此外，糠醛也因其在生物燃料（如生質乙醇和生質柴油）生產中的潛在用途而受到關注。此開發的過程一方面促進了農業廢棄物的減量化和再生利用，另一方面促進了食品和藥物的健康成分的生產。實驗中使用的廢物在東南亞普遍存在，因此提供了一種便宜的成分來源，可為該地區的農民增加收入。詳細方法與實驗敬請參考以下論文與連結.

Babasaheb M. Matsagar, Md. Shahriar A. Hossain, Md. Tofazzal Islam, Hatem R. Alamri, Zeid A. Alothman, Yusuke Yamauchi, Paresh L. Dhepe,* and Kevin C.-W. Wu*. Direct Production of Furfural in One-pot Fashion from Raw Biomass Using Brnsted Acidic Ionic Liquids. Scientific Reports. 2017, 7, 13508.

國內外報導請見以下連結.

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/eco-friendly-method-can-turn-raw-biomass-into-high-value-chemicals-pharmaceuticals-5007543/Taiwan Newshttps://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3332482

Taipei Timeshttp://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2018/01/03/2003685113

Eco-friendly efficient method for raw biomass conversion into high-value chemicals Biomass has emerged as a potential alternative to the declining fossil fuel reserves. The production of biomass in the form of corps is very high which in turn generate huge non-edible raw biomass after utilizing edible parts of crops. Catalytic conversion of non-edible biomass has become the main route for the transformation of biomass into a variety of specialty chemicals and liquid fuels. Currently, many catalytic processes were developed for the conversion of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin into platform chemicals. However, for converting lignocellulosic biomass into chemicals and biofuel first it is pretreated/deconstructed using acids/bases/ILs into cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Then in next step, it is converted into value added chemicals (two-step method). Our method demonstrates conversion of raw biomass (bagasse, rice husk, wheat straw, cotton stalk, corn cob and low-grade jute) into value added chemicals (xylose, arabinose, furfural etc.) in a one-pot fashion using catalytic amount of recyclable BAILs. We believe that our strategy would significantly enhance the proficiency of raw biomass conversion by using BAIL as a catalyst. By converting raw biomass into sugar monomers, and furfural exhibits huge value addition in crop waste which will create an economical platform for farmers and helps for generating additional rural income for the country. Furthermore, this developed method is sustainable and has a lower environmental impact.The xylose is one of the c5 sugar synthesized in the present method is high-value chemicals identified by U.S. Department of Energy used for the synthesis of xylonic acid xylitol. In industrial foods xylonic acid could be used as a replacement for gluconic acid and as a precursor for the synthesis of 1,2,4-butanetirol and polyamides. Xylitol is an excellent artificial sweetener that is now used extensively by the confectionary industry, being responsible for the cold, fresh sensation of certain chewing gums. Xylitol is used for the prevention of dental caries (tooth decay) and also used in pharmaceutical and cosmetic products such as toothpaste, fluoride tablets, and mouthwashes. Arabinose obtained in this process is categorized as rare sugar that is only produced in a small amount from hemicellulose, being used as a chemical for specialty applications and as a food ingredient. In our method, the furfural can also be obtained in a one-pot fashion directly from raw biomass by tuning the reaction conditions. Furfural has many industrial applications and their further conversion can yield a range of industrially important chemicals, the hydrogenation of furfural gives furfuryl alcohol and tetrahydrofuran as products which are known as solvents and starting compounds in the synthesis of a variety of chemicals.This study was supported by the international team of researchers from NTU Department of Chemical Engineering, Taiwan, including Australia, India and Bangladesh. The main collaborators in this project are Dr. Kevin Wu, Professor of the NTU Department of Chemical Engineering, and Dr. Babasaheb M. Matsagar, postdoctoral researcher of the Department of Chemical Engineering NTU. The study was published in Scientific Reports-Nature in Oct 2017. Please refer to the full article, “Direct Production of Furfural in One-pot Fashion from Raw Biomass Using Brnsted Acidic Ionic Liquids” in Scientific Reports 2017, 7, 13508.