Fungal Enzymatic Mixtures for Soy Husk Saccharification and Ethanol Production
摘要
The high costs of enzymes are the major challenge in biomass conversion to ethanol. On-site production of lignocellulolytic enzymes offers a promising strategy to lower overall costs and enhance the economic competitiveness of the bioethanol process. This work aimed to produce lignocellulolytic enzymes, using sugarcane bagasse, soy husk, and wheat bran to grow Aspergillus sydowii, Chrysoporthe cubensis, Hypoxylon sp., Kretzschmaria zonata, and Talaromyces pinophilus by semi-solid fermentation for saccharifying pretreated soy husk. Three different pretreatment methods were performed: hydrothermal, acid (H2SO4 5 mL/L), and alkaline (NaOH 10 g/L), and enzymatic hydrolysis with the commercial cocktail Cellic® CTec3 HS (Novozymes) was conducted to define the best pretreatment condition. Acid pretreatment had the biggest impact on glucose and xylose release, with 13.7 and 7.10 g/L, respectively. Moreover, the enzymatic profile of the on-site cocktails was evaluated and the extracts of A. sydowii, C. cubensis, and T. pinophilus cultivated in soy husk, as well as C. cubensis cultivated in wheat bran outstood. During the enzymatic hydrolysis step of acid-pretreated soy husk, the mixture of C. cubensis and T. pinophilus extracts achieved the best results, converting 36.3% cellulose and 64.4% hemicellulose. Shortly thereafter, the fermentation of the respective hydrolysate was conducted using three different yeast strains. The Saccharomyces cerevisiae Innova® Force ADY was able to adapt to the complex media and generated 2.03 g/L of ethanol, representing 66.3% of glucose to ethanol conversion.
Graphical Abstract