Valorisation Potential of Invasive , and from Land Clearings.

spp. are invasive in Southern Europe, and their high propagation rates produce excessive biomass, exacerbating wildfire risk. However, lignocellulosic biomass from spp. may be utilised for diverse biorefinery applications. In this study, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR), high-performance anion-exchange chromatography pulsed amperometric detection (HPAEC-PAD) and lignin content determinations were used for a comparative compositional characterisation of . , . and . . Additionally, biomass was treated with three white-rot fungi species (, and ), which preferentially degrade lignin. Our results showed that the pre-treatments do not significantly alter neutral sugar composition while reducing lignin content. Sugar release from enzymatic saccharification was enhanced, in some cases possibly due to a synergy between white-rot fungi and mild alkali pretreatments. For example, in . stems treated with alkali and . , saccharification yield was 702.3 nmol mg, which is higher than the samples treated only with alkali (608.1 nmol mg), and 2.9-fold higher than the non-pretreated controls (243.9 nmol mg). By characterising biomass and pretreatments, generated data creates value for unused biomass resources, contributing to the implementation of sustainable biorefining systems. In due course, the generated value will lead to economic incentives for landowners to cut back invasive spp. more frequently, thus reducing excess biomass, which exacerbates wildfire risk.