The Research and Postgraduate Centre congratulates Woo Wen Xuan, Asst. Prof. Dr. Tan Jian Ping, from the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering for publishing an article “An overview on the factors affecting enzymatic saccharification of lignocellulosic biomass into fermentable sugars” in Reviews in Chemical Engineering, a SCI Q1 journal with an impact factor of 8.742.

This review was conducted in collaboration with Dr. Yeap Swee Keong and Dr. Hui Yew Woh from the China-ASEAN College of Marine Sciences, Xiamen University Malaysia.

The review article highlights the importance of the biological conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into fermentable sugars, such as glucose and xylose. Enzymatic saccharification of lignocellulose is commonly regarded as a less energy intensive, lower toxicity and environment-benign approach as compared to conventional hydrolysis method which uses acid or alkaline reagent. Various key parameters affecting the process were identified and investigated, including pH, temperature, agitation, enzyme/substrate loading, residence time, and the enzymes required to degrade various lignocellulose components. In addition, the authors proposed a preliminary economic competency valuation of enzyme-derived fermentable sugars. Finally, noteworthy research directions are prospected to deliver insightful ideas for the future development of enzymatic saccharification of lignocellulosic biomass.

This research is supported by the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia through the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS), project number FRGS/1/2020/TK0/XMU/03/2. This research is also supported by Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), project number TDF07211418 and Xiamen University Research Fund (XMUMRF), project number XMUMRF/2020-C5/IENG/0027.

Woo Wen Xuan, a postgraduate student from the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering under the supervision of Dr. Tan Jian Ping, has published three articles as the first author with Dr. Tan Jian Ping as the corresponding author. Previously, two articles were published on International Journal of Hydrogen Energy from Elsevier and Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research from American Chemistry Society (ACS), with the impact factors of 7.139 and 4.326 respectively.
 

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This article can be found at https://doi.org/10.1515/revce-2022-0019

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Woo Wen Xuan: “It has been a great honour to publish this review paper in Reviews in Chemical Engineering with the utmost support from my supervisor, Dr. Tan Jian Ping. This is an interesting opportunity to involve myself in the fundamental study of enzymatic saccharification of lignocellulosic biomass. I hope this review paper can guide future researchers towards enzyme-derived fermentable sugar production.”

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Dr. Tan Jian Ping is an Assistant Professor at the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University Malaysia. His research interest includes fermentation technology, biochemical and biorefinery processes.