The accessibility of the �(1?4) glycosidic bonds in cellulose to cellulase plays a key role to successful enzymatic hydrolysis in converting biomass into fermentable sugars. This study investigated the effects of the physical and chemical fiber characteristics that can affect the performances of endoglucanase, i.e. lignin, hemicellulose, fiber sizes, and protein additives. Unbleached and bleached Eucalyptus globulus kraft pulp (coded as UEK and BEK, respectively) and steam exploded rice straw (SEP) were tested to evaluate the effects of different residual lignin content in the pulp (i.e. lignin contents of UEK, BEK, and SEP are 3.8%, 0%, and 19%). A Bauer-McNett fibre classifier was used to fractionate the lignocellulosic fibers into different sizes (R-28 and R-100 for 28 and 100 meshes). Saturated Bovine serum albumin (BSA) and Lysozyme were introduced to investigate the effect of non-productive adsorption of the cellulase to lignin. Saccharification efficiencies were evaluated by monitoring the released reducing sugars and viscosity reduction, and compared with the adsorption of endoglucanase at different dosages. The attached figure shows the adsorbed enzyme (a) and the released reducing sugar (b) of four designed samples. Higher lignin removal significantly decreased the adsorbed enzyme on the fibers and increased the efficiency of hydrolysis. Shorter pulps (SEP R-100) adsorbed more enzyme than the longer pulp (SEP R-28) and released more reducing sugars when lignin contents were identical. Finally, addition of saturated BSA and Lysozyme can increase the rates of hydrolysis from endoglucanase.

Effect of fiber properties and protein additive on adsorption and hydrolysis by an endoglucanase

248th National Meeting (2014)

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