3.3. Regenerated biomass and regenerated water yield
The dried pretreated SWBCs and their regenerated waters (RW) were weighed to obtain the YRB and analyzed to determine the dissolved saccharide content (Fig. 3). The YRBs ranged from 30 to 34% and there were no significant differences between the PAA- and the three IL pretreatment results (Fig. 3a). The YRB yields were lower than the agricultural or forest residues [23] and [24]. One of the reasons why the SWBC had a low YRB was because of the high ash content in the SWBC. As is shown in Fig. 1a, the ash content of untreated SWBC reached 16.45 ± 0.58%. The seaweed had a high ash content, which reached 36% [25] and [26].