Enhanced enzymatic conversion and glucose production via two-step enzymatic hydrolysis of corncob residue from xylo-oligosaccharides producer's waste

A study was conducted to investigate the hydrolysis of cellulose-enriched corncob residue, a cellulosic waste from the xylo-oligosaccharides industry, by two processes. The corncob residue was hydrolyzed by cellulases via direct hydrolysis and two-step hydrolysis. Cellulases were produced by Trichoderma reesei RutC-30 with kraft pulp as the substrate. When the cellulase dosage was above 8 FPU•g-1 of corncob residue and the corncob residue concentration was 3%, over 90% hydrolysis yield and 49.99% glucose yield were obtained at 48 h. To enhance the hydrolysis yield of corncob residue, a new process coupling enzymatic hydrolysis, separation, and acid treatment was investigated. The corncob residue was first hydrolyzed using cellulase for 24 h. Then the remaining solids of corncob residue was separated from the liquid containing soluble oligosaccharides, and allowed to subsequently hydrolyze, using the adsorbed enzyme for 24 h. Using this method, the total hydrolysis yield was up to 97.60%, which represents an increase by 7.5% in comparison to the direct 48 h enzymatic hydrolysis. When the hydrolysates of the two-step enzymatic process were subjected to the concentrated acid hydrolysis at 110 °C for 2 h, the glucose yield could be increased from 43% to 90%.