Glucose production from oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) using microwave and fungal treatment method

Palm oil is one of the plants that can be used to produce cooking oil, industrial oil, and fuel. Indonesia itself was one of the largest palm oil-producing countries in the world. OPEFB includes lignocellulose biomass, whose main content is 46.5% cellulose, 33.8% hemicellulose, and 32.5% lignin. This research method used 3 stages, namely microwave pretreatment, Fungal Treatment 1 (FT 1), and Fungal Treatment 2 (FT 2). The raw materials used are OPEFB, while the fungi used are Phanaerochaete chrysosporium, Tricodherma harzianum, Aspergillus niger, and Tricodherma viride. The first step to be prepared in this study was to prepare OPEFB powder measuring 20 mesh. OPEFB powder was then put in the microwave for 20, 40, and 60 minutes. OPEFB that had been heated in the microwave was then converted into a slurry with the addition of water with a ratio of 3:5 (w/w). The second and third phases were Fungal Treatment for ±10 days. The parameters analyzed were the introduction of OPEFB, product of microwave pretreatment, product of fungal treatment 1, and product of fungal treatment 2. The content to be analyzed were lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose, and glucose. The result of pretreatment revealed that microwave-based pretreatment with the addition of alkaline solution could eliminate lignin by 83.45% and increase holocellulose levels by up to 41.907% at 300 W power and 60 minutes. As for the result for fungal treatment, the best treatment for FT 1 was treatment ratio TH:PC 1:2, which could eliminate lignin for 47.55% and FT 2 with treatment ratio TV:AN 1:2 that could increase glucose up to 84.9%.