Estimation of Reducing Sugars Released from Solvent-Treated Green Amaranth and Jute Sticks.

Abstract

The sticks generated from the highly consumed green amaranth and jute plants in South West Nigeria contain trapped polysaccharide resources that can serve as a source of reducing sugars required in the production of enzymes or biofuel. These waste resources can be harnessed as resources with no food value. To estimate the reducing sugars released from the green amaranth and jute sticks, this study employed four solvents (sodium hydroxide, ethanol, hydrogen peroxide and citrate-phosphate buffer) to harness the trapped sugar resources. The sticks were collected and processed. The components of the processed green amaranth and jute sticks were ascertained by proximate analysis. Interaction effects of solvents, time and temperature on the release of reducing sugars from the processed samples were estimated using the Box-Behnken design and the two-level factorial design. Despite the low protein, fat and moisture content, oven-dried samples showed a higher carbohydrate content. The Box-Behnken design revealed the released reducing sugars using 1.25N sodium hydroxide (2.393 mg/ml ± 0.494), 1.25N hydrogen peroxide (1.240 mg/ml ± 0.093) at 50 °C and 2N ethanol (1.780 mg/ml ± 0.008) at 28 °C for 60 minutes favour oven-dried green stick wastes (OGSW) over oven-dried jute stick wastes (OJSW) by a difference of 61.92%, 73.28% and 31.92%. The ability of citrate-phosphate buffer to release reducing sugars favours OGSW over OJSW with a difference of 37.3% at the factor level of pH 6, 50 °C, and 60 minutes. With the significant interaction effect of variables, the citrate-phosphate buffer was considered a greener and more suitable option.