Pretreatment of cellulosic wastes to increase enzyme reactivity

Journal Article · Tue Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 1977 · Biotechnol. Bioeng.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/bit.260190304· OSTI ID:7287849

Neese, N; Wallick, J; Harper, J M

The enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose to glucose is generally a slow reaction. Different pretreatments, such as ball milling to a -200 mesh or swelling in 1 to 2 percent NaOH are reported to increase the reactivity considerably. In this work a fiber fraction from cattle manure was treated in an autoclave for 5 to 30 min at temperatures ranging from 130 to 200/sup 0/C. The reactivity of the cellulose, measured by incubating samples with a commercial cellulase preparation for one hour at 50/sup 0/C and pH 4.8, was increased by a factor of 4 to 6 compared to NaOH treatment and 10 to 20 compared to untreated fiber. The increased reaction rate is probably mostly due to an increase in cellulose availability to enzymatic attack, as structural hemicellulose is hydrolyzed and removed during the treatment. Sugars, produced by hemicellulosis hydrolysis, will react further to give caramelization products. These side reactions were shown to be suppressed by short treatment times. The treated fiber could support growth of a mixed culture of Trichoderma viride and Candida utilis only after washing, indicating the formation of water soluble inhibitory products during treatment. The treatment with high-temperature steam can probably be used also with other cellulosic materials to increase reactivity. This may be an attractive way to prepare low-valued wastes such as manure fibers, straw, stalks, or corn cobs for fermentation processes to increase the protein content or for use directly as ruminant animal feed.

• Research Organization: Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins
• OSTI ID: 7287849
• Journal Information: Biotechnol. Bioeng.; (United States), Vol. 19:3
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
09 BIOMASS FUELS
MANURES
ENZYMATIC HYDROLYSIS
AUTOCLAVES
CELLULOSE
STEAM
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AGRICULTURAL WASTES
CARBOHYDRATES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
DECOMPOSITION
HYDROLYSIS
LYSIS
MANAGEMENT
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POLYSACCHARIDES
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SACCHARIDES
SOLID WASTES
SOLVOLYSIS
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