Integrated Conversion of Wheat Straw via Dilute-acid Steam Explosion for the Production of Bio-based Chemicals

Wheat straw is an abundant yet underutilized agricultural residue with significant potential as a feedstock for sustainable biorefineries. In this work, an integrated process based on dilute-acid steam explosion was investigated to enhance biomass valorization into fermentable sugars and downstream bio-based products. Pretreatment under acidic conditions enabled high hemicellulose solubilization, achieving xylose recoveries close to 90% and generating liquid fractions with sugar concentrations up to ~14 g/L. The process also improved cellulose accessibility, allowing enzymatic hydrolysis yields up to ~95% conversion to glucose. However, the hydrolysate contained inhibitory compounds, including acetic acid (~1.9 g/L) and furans (~0.8 g/L), which can negatively affect microbial fermentation. These results highlight both the effectiveness of steam explosion in biomass deconstruction and the need to balance sugar recovery with inhibitor formation. Overall, the study demonstrates the potential of wheat straw as a low-cost substrate for the production of bio-based chemicals within an integrated biorefinery framework.