Chemical composition and characterization of cellulose for Agave as a fast-growing, drought-tolerant biofuels feedstock

A major issue raised about development of cellulosic biomass derived fuels technologies is the concern about possible competition for land with agricultural crops and impacts on food and feed supply. However, because agave offers high productivity with low water and nutrient demands, it can thrive on semiarid lands not suitable for conventional agriculture, making it a promising lignocellulosic feedstock for biofuels production. Because agave composition will establish the maximum potential fuel yield that is vital to low cost conversion, detailed chemical composition data and cellulose characteristics were measured by standard biomass analysis procedures and solid-state NMR methods, respectively, for four agave samples: A. americana leaves, A. salmiana leaves, A. tequilana leaves, and A. americana heart. For the first time, we report substrate characteristics relevant to biochemical conversion for the tested agave species, specifically cell wall compositional data along with the relative proportions of cellulose ultra-structural components. The experimental results also provide an important baseline for further characterization and conversion of different agave species as biofuels feedstocks for semi-arid lands.