Effect of bisulfite treatment on composition, structure, enzymatic hydrolysis and cellulase adsorption profiles of sugarcane bagasse

The effect of sulfite pretreatment to overcome recalcitrance of lignocellulose (SPORL) on composition, structure, enzymatic hydrolysis and cellulase adsorption profiles of sugarcane bagasse (SCB) was investigated. SPORL gave a higher SCB hydrolysis yield (85.33%) compared to dilute acid pretreatment (DA) (64.39%). The SEM pictures showed that SPORL SCB structure became more disordered and looser, suggesting SPORL SCB was more accessible to cellulase. The zeta potential of SPORL SCB suspension (-21.89 mV) was significantly different from that of DA SCB (-12.87 mV), which demonstrated the lignin in SPORL SCB was more hydrophilic. With regard to cellulase adsorption profiles, SPORL SCB had a lower non-productive adsorption (14.87 mg/g lignin) and a higher productive adsorption (37.67 mg/g carbohydrate) compared with DA SCB (17.05 mg/g lignin; 25.79 mg/g carbohydrate). These results indicated that SPORL SCB had better accessibility to cellulase and the higher productive cellulase adsorption of SPORL SCB had improved hydrolysis. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.