COMPARING CELLULOSE ISOLATION ROUTES FROM LIGNOCELLULOSIC AND AGRO-FOOD BIOMASS: A STRUCTURED REVIEW OF YIELD, PURITY AND CRYSTALLINITY
Keywords:
Cellulose isolation, lignocellulosic biomass, agro-food waste, crystallinity index, deep eutectic solventsAbstract
Cellulose from agricultural, food-processing and forest residues underpins microcrystalline cellulose, cellulose nanocrystals and other bio-based materials, but primary studies test different isolation routes on different feedstocks and report outcomes on non-equivalent bases. This structured review maps isolation routes for lignocellulosic and agro-food biomass in 57 studies published in 2018–2026 (50 from an author-compiled collection and 7 from targeted searches) and compares them on cellulose yield, purity, crystallinity index (CrI), thermal stability and process sustainability. Data were extracted by a single AI-assisted reviewer and synthesised narratively because outcome definitions differed. Alkaline treatment (47 studies), oxidative bleaching (31) and acid steps (22) dominated, and 28 studies (49%) used at least one non-conventional technology. Yield was reported in 22 studies, purity in 20 and CrI in 36. Isolation raised CrI in all 13 studies that reported paired values (median +14.0 percentage points). Reported purity ranged from 43.3% to 96.7% (median 81.9%), the highest values following enzyme-assisted pretreatment, microwave-assisted formic acid extraction and microwave subcritical water extraction. Only four studies quantified energy or environmental performance. No route was superior across outcomes, so choice should follow the target product, and standardised yield bases, CrI methods and sustainability metrics are needed. The evidence set was not retrieved by a complete database search, so the findings are a structured synthesis of a defined set of studies.
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