Strategies for enzyme saving during saccharification of pretreated lignocellulo-starch biomass: effect of enzyme dosage and detoxification chemicals

Two strategies leading to enzyme saving during saccharification of pretreated lignocellulo-starch biomass (LCSB) was investigated which included reducing enzyme dosage by varying their levels in enzyme cocktails and enhancing the fermentable sugar yield in enzyme-reduced systems using detoxification chemicals. Time course release of reducing sugars (RS) during 24–120 h was significantly higher when an enzyme cocktail containing full dose of cellulase (16 FPU/g cellulose) along with half dose each of xylanase (1.5 mg protein/g hemicelluloses) and Stargen (12.5 μl/g biomass) was used to saccharify conventional dilute sulphuric acid (DSA) pretreated biomass compared to a parallel system where only one-fourth the dose of the latter two enzymes was used. The reduction in RS content in the 120 h saccharified mash to the extent of 3–4 g/L compared to the system saccharified with full complement of the three enzymes could be overcome considerably by supplementing the system (half dose of two enzymes) with detoxification chemical mix incorporating Tween 20, PEG 4000 and sodium borohydride. Microwave (MW)-assisted DSA pretreated biomass on saccharification with enzyme cocktail having full dose of cellulase and half dose of Stargen along with detoxification chemicals gave significantly higher RS yield than DSA pretreated system saccharified using three enzymes. The study showed that xylanase could be eliminated during saccharification of MW-assisted DSA pretreated biomass without affecting RS yield when detoxification chemicals were also supplemented. The Saccharification Efficiency and Overall Conversion Efficiency were also high for the MW-assisted DSA pretreated biomass. Since whole slurry saccharifcation of pretreated biomass is essential to conserve fermentable sugars in LCSB saccharification, detoxification of soluble inhibitors is equally important as channelling out of insoluble lignin remaining in the residue. As one of the major factors contributing to the cost of ethanol production from LCSB is the cost of enzymes, appropriate modification of enzyme cocktail based on the composition of the pretreated biomass coupled with effective detoxification of the slurry would be a promising approach towards cost reduction.