| abstract |
A saccharide composition comprises a xylose enriched hemicellulose sugar mixture comprises two or more of the following characteristics: (i) oligosaccharides in a ratio to total dissolved sugars < 0.10 weight/weight; (ii) xylose in a ratio to total dissolved sugars > 0.50 weight/weight; (iii) arabinose in a ratio to total dissolved sugars < 0.10 weight/weight; (iv) galactose in a ratio to total dissolved sugars < 0.05 weight/weight; (v) the sum of glucose and fructose in a ratio to total dissolved sugars < 0.10 weight/weight; (vi) mannose in a ratio to total dissolved sugars < 0.02 weight/weight; (vii) fructose in a ratio to total dissolved sugars < 0.05 weight/weight; (viii) furfurals in an amount up to 0.01 % weight/weight; (ix) phenols in an amount up to 500 ppm; and (x) hexanol in an amount up to 0.1% weight/weight. A non-enriched and a xylose-depleted stream are also claimed. A method of processing lignocellulosic material to obtain hemicellulose sugars, cellulose sugars, lignin, cellulose and other high-value products comprises (i) contacting the sugar stream with an amine extractant to form a mixture; (ii) separating from the mixture a first stream comprising the amine extractant and an acid or an impurity; and a second stream comprising one or more sugars. |