Effect of gamma irradiation on recovery of total reducing sugars from delignified sugarcane bagasse

Abstract The present work investigates the effect of gamma irradiation on the recovery of total reducing sugars from delignified sugarcane bagasse. The bagasse was irradiated with different radiation dose i.e. 25, 100, 250, 400 and 1000 kGy.The effect of different initiators in terms of sugar recovery was also investigated. The total reducing sugars was estimated by Dinitrosalicylic acid (DNS) method and individual sugars were identified and estimated by HPLC.The results revealed that irradiation of delignified sugarcane bagasse increases the yield of total reducing sugar by three fold. The use of 1% Ammonium persulphate (APS) as initiator further increases the yield by four fold. The increase in the yield of total reducing sugar was attributed to the breakage of cellulosic cell walls of sugarcane bagasse by irradiation.