Enzymatic Conversion of Wood Materials from the Pulp and Paper Industry

The reactivity during enzymatic hydrolysis of eight industrially produced samples of pulps and semichemical pulps by enzyme preparations of glycosyl hydrolases B151 and F10 produced by a strain of the ascomycete fungus Penicillium verruculosum has been determined. It is shown for the first time that among fibrous pulps available on the market of pulp and paper industry in Russia, the highest level of yield of glucose from the initial wood during biocatalysis using cellulases and hemicellulases is characteristic of semichemical pulps obtained after green liquor cooking of hardwood. A high degree of enzymatic conversion of softwood bleached kraft pulp has been established, which in combination with the possibility of obtaining modified polysaccharide materials from non-hydrolysable residue makes this cellulosic substrate the most promising for the development of biological processes at pulp and paper industries. It is shown that drying of pulp negatively affects the efficiency of cellulose hydrolysis, while mechanical refining improves the performance of the enzymatic saccharification process.