Cellulase and Xylanase Enzymes from Trichoderma reesei RUT-C30 Using Pretreated Sugarcane Bagasse in a Biorefinery Environment

Abstract

Abstract Biofuels and other bioproducts derived from lignocellulosic feedstocks represent environmentally sustainable pathways that have the potential to compete favorably with conventional petrochemical counterparts. Realizing their economic viability necessitates the development of highly efficient and cost-effective enzymatic preparations for the hydrolysis of lignocellulosic substrates. Within the context of this investigation, it was harnessed the capabilities of T. reesei RUT-C30, a well-recognized hypercellulolytic fungus. Employing delignified pretreated sugarcane bagasse as the main substrate, and amelioration of the culture medium composition enhanced the production of cellulase and xylanase enzymes. In a controlled bench scale bioreactor system, it was achieved noteworthy enzymatic activities, peaking at 3.8 FPU/mL for cellulase and 231 U/mL for xylanase and 26 FPU/L h productivity. Calculated hydrolysis conversion of delignified steam-explosion sugarcane bagasse (DSB) at 3% DSB concentration without the addition of an external source of β-glucosidase was 51.8% for the enzyme preparation DSB(C) and only n this same condition, maximum conversion for commercial enzymes (T reesei, Sigma) was only 34 %. This observation accentuates the competence of the enzymes derived from T. reesei RUT-C30 in efficiently degrading pretreated sugarcane bagasse. While it was demonstrated the potential of T. reesei RUT-C30 for enzyme production in the context of second-generation ethanol generation, our data portrays the enzyme's cost contribution to ethanol production of US$ 0.115 per liter of ethanol produced.