Conclusions
In this work, a solid-acid catalyst (commercially available sulfo- nated polymer Amberlyst-15) was applied to the hydrolysis of marine red macro-algae G. verrucosa to produce sugars suitable for the production of biofuels and chemicals. In the solid-acid-cat- alyzed hydrolysis of G. verrucosa, the attained sugar concentration was 61 g/L TRS (or 10.8 g/L glucose, 41.1 g/L galactose), at a 7.5 L/S ratio, 15% solid-acid catalyst, 140 °C, and 150 min. Under these conditions, 10.7 g/L of 5-HMF and 2.5 g/L of LA also were obtained. In light of the overall results, marine macro-algae G. verrucosa can be considered offer great potential as a feedstock for production of