Valorization of the wast descended from the hydrodistillation of Rosmarinus officinalis

Abstract

The production of essential oils from rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
result the formation of lignocellulosic waste, not easily biodegradable and
involve environmental problems. In this work we developed process to
produce monomeric sugars with high added value from this waste, after the
treatment respectively with the vapour (10min, 205°C under 1 bar) and acid
hydrolysis ( sulphuric acid 0.5%).
The acid hydrolysis thereafter, improved by pretreatments (explosion by
the steam of water), permits to damage all polymers recalcitrant to the
acidic hydrolysis.