Application of a reaction model to improve calculation of the sugar recovery standard for sugar analysis

A kinetic model was applied to improve determination of the sugar recovery standard (SRS) for biomass analysis. Three sets of xylose (0.10–1.00 g/L and 0.999–19.995 g/L) and glucose (0.206–1.602 g/L) concentrations were measured by HPLC following reaction of each for 1 h. Then, parameters in a kinetic model were fit to the resulting sugar concentration data, and the model was applied to predict the initial sugar concentrations and the best SRS value (SRS p ). The initial sugar concentrations predicted by the model agreed with the actual initial sugar concentrations. Although the SRS e calculated directly from experimental data oscillated considerably with sugar concentration, the SRS p trend was smooth. Statistical analysis of errors and application of the F ‐test confirmed that application of the model reduced experimental errors in SRS e . Reference SRS e values are reported for the three series of concentrations. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2012;109: 300–305. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.