Hydrolysis of biomass material

A method for hydrolyzing hemicellulose in a biomass material comprising:

• (a) solubilizing at least a portion of the hemicellulose in the presence of an acid and subsequently
• (b) enzymatically hydrolyzing the solubilized hemicellulose to produce at least one monosaccharide.

A method for hydrolyzing hemicellulose in a biomass material comprising:

• (a) solubilizing at least a portion of the hemicellulose by heating the biomass material to greater than 110° C. in the presence of an acid resulting in an aqueous fraction that includes the solubilized hemicellulose and a water insoluble solids fraction and subsequently
• (b) separating the aqueous fraction from the water insoluble solids fraction.

A method for hydrolyzing hemicellulose in a biomass material comprising:

• (a) solubilizing at least a portion of the hemicellulose in the presence of a first acid and subsequently
• (b) hydrolyzing the solubilized hemicellulose in the presence of a second acid to produce at least one monosaccharide.

A method for hydrolyzing hemicellulose in a biomass material that also includes cellulose comprising:

• (a) solubilizing at least a portion of the hemicellulose resulting in (i) an aqueous fraction that includes the solubilized hemicellulose and (ii) a water insoluble fraction that includes cellulose and subsequently
• (b) hydrolyzing the solubilized hemicellulose in the presence of the cellulose to produce at least one monosaccharide,
• wherein substantially no cellulose is hydrolyzed in steps (a) and (b).

A method for hydrolyzing hemicellulose in a biomass material that also includes cellulose comprising:

• (a) solubilizing at least a portion of the hemicellulose resulting in (i) an aqueous fraction that includes the solubilized hemicellulose and (ii) a water insoluble fraction that includes cellulose and subsequently
• (b) enzymatically hydrolyzing the solubilized hemicellulose in the presence of the cellulose to produce at least one monosaccharide,
• wherein substantially no cellulose is hydrolyzed in steps (a) and (b).

A method for hydrolyzing hemicellulose in a biomass material comprising:

• (a) solubilizing at least a portion of the hemicellulose by heating the biomass material to greater than 110° C. in the presence of an acid resulting in an aqueous fraction that includes the solubilized hemicellulose and at least one monosaccharide, and a water insoluble solids fraction and subsequently
• (b) separating the aqueous fraction from the water insoluble solids fraction wherein substantially no cellulose is hydrolyzed in steps (a) and (b).

A method for hydrolyzing hemicellulose in a biomass material comprising:

• (a) solubilizing at least a portion of the hemicellulose to produce (i) a first aqueous fraction that includes solubilized hemicellulose and (ii) a water insoluble solids fraction that includes cellulose
• (b) hydrolyzing the solubilized hemicellulose to produce a product comprising a second aqueous fraction that includes at least one monosaccharide and
• (c) separating the second aqueous fraction from the water insoluble solids fraction.

A method for hydrolyzing hemicellulose in corn fiber comprising:

• (a) heating the corn fiber at a temperature of about 120° C. to about 140° C. so as to solubilize about 40 to about 80 weight percent of the corn fiber such that at least a portion of the hemicellulose is solubilized and subsequently
• (b) hydrolyzing the solubilized hemicellulose to produce at least one monosaccharide.