Recovery of cellulases by adsorption/desorption using cation exchange resins

Cellulases from Trichoderma reesei were recovered by adsorption in sodium acetate buffer at lower pH using cation exchange resins followed by desorption at higher pH. The weakly acidic ion exchange resin WK10 was found to be the best among the six resins tested in terms of the enzyme activity recovery. The optimal pH values for the adsorption and desorption were 4.0 and 8.0, respectively, and the optimal adsorption and desorption times were both 5 h. Almost 100% of the initial cellulase activity was recovered under the optimal conditions with the supplement of β-glucosidase, which was unable to be efficiently recovered due to its strong adsorption (95.7%) but poor desorption (1.9%).