Diverse cell wall composition and varied biomass digestibility in wheat straw for bioenergy feedstock

Wheat straw has a vast potential as feedstock for biofuel production in China. However, little information is available regarding variation in cell wall composition and enzymatic digestibility of wheat straw. This study investigated cell wall compositions and biomass digestibility of the straw of 115 wheat accessions from central China using a 1% NaOH pretreatment and mixed enzymatic hydrolysis. Significant variation in cell wall composition and sugar release was observed, with a coefficient variation (CV) ranging from 4.7% to 21.2%. Cellulose, hemicelluloses, alkali detergent hemicelluloses (ADH), and acid insoluble lignin (AIL) positively correlated with each other, and they all negatively correlated with acid soluble lignin (ASL). Hexose yields had a negative correlation with ADH and AIL, and positive correlation with ASL. No apparent undesirable correlation was found between sugar release and grain yield, thus yield and biomass convertibility can be potentially improved simultaneously. Furthermore, the features of the cell wall constitutions were compared with other plants and their implication in determining the best possible conversion strategy was discussed. This initial study is essential to understand the cell wall composition of wheat straw and to explore the potential of wheat straw as feedstock for biofuel production.