Exploring the compatibility between hydrothermal depolymerization of alkaline lignin from sugarcane bagasse and metabolization of the aromatics by bacteria

Although hydrothermal treatments for biomass fractionation have been vastly studied, their effect on the depolymerization of isolated lignins in terms of yield, composition, and compatibility of the produced lignin bio-oils with bioconversion is still poorly investigated. In this study, we evaluated the hydrothermal depolymerization of an β –O–4′-rich lignin extracted from sugarcane bagasse by alkaline fractionation, investigating the influence of temperature (200–350 °C), time (30–90 min), and solid-liquid ratio (1:10–1:50 m.v −1 ) on yield of bio-oils (up to 31 wt%) rich in monomers (light bio-oils). Principal Components Analysis showed that the defunctionalization of the aromatic monomers was more pronounced in the most severe reaction conditions and that the abundance of more hydrophobic monomers increased in more diluted reactions. While the high-molecular-weight (heavy) bio-oil generated at 350 °C, 90 min, and 1:50 m.v −1 failed to support bacterial growth, the corresponding light bio-oil rich in aromatic monomers promoted the growth of bacteria from 9 distinct species. The isolates Pseudomonas sp. LIM05 and Burkholderia sp. LIM09 showed the best growth performance and tolerance to lignin-derived aromatics, being the most promising for the future development of biological upgrading strategies tailored for this lignin stream. • Hydrothermal severity favored the defunctionalization of the aromatics. • Systematic growth assessment for 11 bacterial strains in lignin bio-oils • Pseudomonas sp. and Burkholderia sp. strains were the best growers on light bio-oil. • 3-Methoxycatechol identified in the light bio-oil was converted into cell biomass.