Enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass in ionic liquid media for fermentable sugar production

This study investigated the enzymatic in situ hydrolysis of sugarcane bagasse by Accellerase (TM) 1500, a commercial cellulose, in the presence of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium diethylphosphate (EMIM-DEP), which is a cellulose-dissolving solvent. The sugarcane bagasse was first delignified, and the remaining cellulose was used as substrate for subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis. The EMIM-DEP pretreatment and related enzyme-catalyzed conditions affecting the yield of glucose liberated from the delignified bagasse were optimized. The maximal hydrolysis yield of 82.86% was obtained at an EMIM-DEP concentration of 5% (v/v), pretreatment temperature of 50 degrees C, pretreatment time of 3 h, enzyme-catalyzed reaction temperature of 40 degrees C, and enzyme loading of 178.5 U/g-substrate. (C) 2012 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.