10-36: Hydrolysis of switchgrass and comparison with commercial enzyme Accellerase® 1500

Two-day and three-day fermented broth on pretreated switchgrass using T . reesei Rut C-30 were examined for cellulase activity. Commercially available enzyme Accellerase® 1500 was used to hydrolyze switchgrass at different loadings i.e. 0.5 ml/g biomass, 1 ml/g biomass and 2 ml/g biomass at pH 5 and compared with hydrolyzed switchgrass using three-day fermented broth, at different pH i.e. 5, 6 and 7 . All experiments were conducted in triplicate and maintained at 50 ⁰C and at 250 rpm. HPLC was used for analyzing different sugars. Sugars were measured in different time intervals i.e. 2 h, 24 h, 48 h and 72 h. Using Accellerase® 1500, most of the switchgrass (43 %) was hydrolyzed within 24 h. But three-day fermented broth took 72 h to hydrolyze switchgrass to the maximum i.e. 53 % at pH 5. More xylose hydrolysis was observed with three-day fermented broth compared to Accellerase® 1500.