skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Production of cellulase enzymes and hydrolysis of steam-exploded wood

Journal Article · · Biotechnol. Bioeng.; (United States)

Steam-exploded aspen has been examined as a candidate feedstock for both cellulase production and enzymatic hydrolysis of wood. Batch and fed-batch cultivation methods were evaluated and compared with previous experiments using ball-milled, crystalline cellulose (Solka Floc). Batch cultivation of Trichoderma reesei Rut C-30 on 9 wt% water-washed aspen yielded enzyme productivities and activities comparable to those obtained on Solka Floc (40 FP IU/l-h; 7.5 FP IU/ml). Fed-batch cultivation of Rut C-30 resulted in higher enzyme productivities and titers than batch cultivation (50 FP IU/l-h; 15 FP IU/ml). However, the overall enzyme production performance was lower than Solka Floc at comparable cellulose feeding rates and concentrations. This may be due to the accumulation of steam explosion by-products and lignin in the fermentor. The hydrolysis of water-washed steam-exploded aspen was performed at different enzyme loading and wood concentrations. Glucose production, using 10 and 15 wt% suspension, showed that while glucose concentration increased with wood load, the yield of glucose derived from cellulose decreased. With 10 wt% suspensions, it was possible to obtain a cellulose conversion to glucose above 95%. Low cellobiose levels in the hydrolyzates indicated that the enzyme preparations have ..beta..-glucosidase to filter paper activity ratios (approximately 1.5), a significant result since the fungus was grown exclusively on wood. It also suggested that the observed yield decrease is more likly to be caused by glucose than cellobiose inhibition of the enzymes. 9 references.

Research Organization:
Univ. of California, Berkeley
OSTI ID:
5367423
Journal Information:
Biotechnol. Bioeng.; (United States), Vol. 28:4
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English