Optimization of Endoglucanase and Xylanase Activities from Fusarium verticillioides for Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation of Sugarcane Bagasse

Enzymatic hydrolysis is an important but expensive step in the production of ethanol from biomass. Thus, the production of efficient enzymatic cocktails is of great interest for this biotechnological application. The production of endoglucanase and xylanase activites from F. verticillioides were optimized in a factorial design (25) followed by a CCDR design. Endoglucanase and xylanase activities increased from 2.8 to 8.0 U/mL and from 13.4 to 114 U/mL, respectively. The optimal pH and temperature were determined for endoglucanase (5.6, 80 °C), cellobiase (5.6, 60 °C), FPase (6.0, 55 °C) and xylanase (7.0, 50 °C). The optimized crude extract was applied in saccharification and fermentation of sugarcane bagasse from which 9.7 g/L of ethanol was produced at an ethanol/biomass yield of 0.19.