Orange mesocarp was evaluated as a feed stock for production of glucose syrup using Trichoderma. reesei. The material was crushed to 100 – 150 μm, 200 – 250 μm and 300 – 425μm particle sizes and fed into a bioreactor where delignification was effected. The orange mesocarp was subjected to three distinct alkaline pre-treatment procedures; sodium hydroxide, calcium hydroxide and the ammonia steeping method. Calcium hydroxide treatment removed lignin from orange mesocarp, providing reasonable concentrations of fermented glucose of 3.4mmol/L. The Sodium hydroxide pretreatment was distinctly different, in that its glucose concentration was least compared to others because it has less ability to dissolve the lignin in the mesocarp within the limit of the concentration used. All the three pre-treatment procedures increased enzymatic digestibility of orange mesocarp with substantial concentration of glucose. However,out of the three pretreatments (Calcium treated mesocarp, Ammonia treated mesocarp and Sodium treated mesocarp); the calcium treated mesocarp produced the highest glucose concentration.
