Abstract
The 21st century's goal to reduce CO2 emission is the driving force to replace petroleum with biomass. Although biomass has the potential to provide about similar to 25% of global energy demands, biomass valorization (conversion to value-added products [VAPs]) also contributes to CO2 emissions. The use of microbial consortia rather than a single species is more efficient for biomass valorization. Thus, several molecular methods have been developed to decipher the composition of these consortia. Understanding the composition and diversity of microbes in a fermentation-based biomass valorization will enable the synthesis of artificial consortia to produce desirable products. Most works have identified the dominant microbial species in different biomass valorization processes and highlighted the influence of variables such as nanoparticles and fermentation inhibitors on microbial diversity and dynamics. The prominent microbial species in the microbial consortium are also discussed. This review will guide future works on microbial molecular profiling during biomass valorization.