Aspergillus awamori endoglucanases promote faster lignocellulosic
biomass liquefaction in high-solids enzymatic hydrolysis
Abstract
Endoglucanases are necessary to improve high-solids enzymatic hydrolysis
of lignocellulosic biomass by promoting liquefaction and decreasing the
medium viscosity, alleviating one of the processes’ major hindrances. In
this study, endoglucanases produced by a particular strain
of Aspergillus awamori were evaluated to speed up biomass liquefaction
in reactions with 30% solids. Firstly, A. awamori crude supernatant
(Aa) was assessed as a supplement to commercial enzymes, decreasing the
media viscosity in 10-fold and improving glucose release by 20% after
24 h. Afterward, Aa was fractionated by size-exclusion chromatography
and an endoglucanases-rich fraction was identified by liquid
chromatography-mass spectrometry. This fraction was then supplemented to
the most efficient commercial enzyme and its performance compared with
the unfractionated Aa, resulting in the same improvement on medium
viscosity and glucose release in 6 h. These data indicate that A.
awamori endoglucanases have a powerful effect on the viscosity decrease
during high-solids enzymatic hydrolysis.