Gluconic Acid as a New Green Solvent for Recovery of Polysaccharides by Clean Technologies

Abstract

The gluconic acid is an inexpensive and bio-based organic compound with new insights to drive growth in the eco-friendly industries. In organic chemistry, the gluconic acid is considered as a sustainable medium for organic reactions; meanwhile, natural product technologies suggest their potential as green solvents for extraction. In this chapter, advances of use of gluconic acid as a green solvent are presented in combination with green technologies for production of polysaccharides from biomasses from animal (chitin), microbial (chitosan-glucan), or vegetal (pectin) origins. Furthermore, this weak organic acid is capable of depolymerizing chitosan under microwave radiation for the production of water-soluble chitosan. The use of gluconic acid in combination with biomasses and clean technologies offers new green processes for the production of specialty polysaccharides and its derivatives under environmentally friendly process.