TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Components: The composition: is non- sticky to metal, plastic, or glass; and is granular or a powder. The strong acid is sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, perchloric acid, triflic acid, para-toluene sulfonic acid, naphthalene sulfonic acid, or hydrobromic acid. In the process (P4): the final concentration of sulfuric acid in the organic solvent portion is 0.001-0.25 wt.%; and the mixture further comprises formic acid. In the method (P5): the aqueous sulfuric acid solution is recycled into a reaction containing a carbohydrate, a furanic aldehyde, and levulinic acid; the sulfuric acid solution further comprises formic or levulinic acid; and the presence of xylenols is less than 0.1 wt.% by HPLC. In the process (P6): the chemical is inorganic acid or inorganic anhydrides, preferably sulfuric acid; the microorganism is at least one of Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Bacillus, Saccharomyces or Clostridium; the enzyme mixture is used in an amount of 0.025-0.1 wt.% of the biomass; the enzyme mixture comprises 1-4 wt.% cellobiohydrolase, 1-4 wt.% beta -glucosidase, and 35-45 wt.% polygalacturonase, with respect to the total weight of the enzyme mixture; and the enzyme mixture additionally comprises at least one hemicellulase activity, preferably at least one activity comprising arabinase, xylanase, pectin methylesterase, rhamnogalacturonase or 1,3-/1,6- beta -D-glucanase. The liquefied biomass has a fructose content of 10-95 wt.%, a fructan content of 0-80 wt.%, a sucrose content of 0-10 wt.% and a glucose content of 0-20 wt.%. In the process (P7): the mineral acid is sulfuric acid; and the reaction mixture comprises 10-60%, preferably 20-50% mineral acid. Preferred Process: In the process (P1): the metal ions are removed prior to the reactive distillation process by cation exchange resins; the oligomers and solvents are removed by adsorption or adsorption via carbon bed from the reaction mixture components prior to the reactive distillation process; and the strong acid impurities are removed by anion exchange resins, weak bases, or molecular sieves from the reaction mixture components prior to the reactive distillation process. The reactive distillation process (P1) further comprises: treating the levulinic acid or ester with molecular sieves or an alkali or alkaline metal base to remove any strong acid impurities from the levulinic ester; washing the levulinic acid with water prior to reactive distillation and/or washing the levulinic ester with water, to remove water soluble impurities, e.g. strong acids; and removing alpha or beta -angelica lactone and/or a 4- alkoxy- gamma -valerolactone impurities by distillation or by conversion to other compounds followed by distillation, or by adsorption with a suitable absorption media. The method (P4) further comprises treating the extract stream containing levulinic acid with an anion exchange resin, weak base, or buffer. The method (P5) further comprises: heating the sulfuric acid solution during treatment with the activated carbon; and analyzing the final sulfuric acid solution for presence of xylenols. In the process (P6): the liquefying step is carried out by macerating the chicory root biomass material, and by subjecting the chicory root biomass material to an enzyme mixture comprising cellobiohydrolase, beta -glucosidase or polygalacturonase, forming a liquefied product with a content of remaining insoluble solids of less than 5 wt.%; a chemical or microorganism is added before or during step (b) to render the liquefied product storage stable, preferably, the chemical or microorganism is added in an amount to adjust the pH of the liquefied biomass to a pH below 3; and the step (b) is carried out for 2-20 hours. In the process (P6): mechanical size reduction is optionally carried out during process step (b), where mechanical size reduction is carried by passing the biomass through an extruder; no invertase is added to the enzyme mixture; and the chemical or microorganisms are added to the solid biomass before or together with the enzyme mixture, where the process is carried out in a single tank. EXAMPLE - No suitable example given.