Co-saccharification of lignocellulose biomass in conjunction with starch by cellulolytic-xylanolytic-amylolytic enzymes complex of Trichoderma sp. SG2

The natural fungal isolate, Trichoderma sp. SG2 (PTA-120389) is a strong producer of β-glucosidase.  Cell-free culture supernatant of Trichoderma sp. SG2 grown in lignocellulose medium displayed strong cellulolytic-xylanolytic-amylolytic activities. Assays conducted with ten times dilution of the cellulolytic-xylanolytic-amylolytic culture supernatant grown in lignocellulose medium revealed as much as 52.54 units/ml/30 min, 405.64 units/ml/30 min and 195.88 units/ml/30 min of cellulase, xylanase and amylase, respectively. Nonetheless, amylase activity was higher in starch medium. The enzymes complex was therefore examined for co-saccharification of lignocellulose biomass in conjunction with starch. In initial experiments, saccharification of a combination of pretreated switch grass (20g/L)/gelatinized starch (20g/L) yielded about 8.0 g/L of reducing sugar in 24h. Whereas in parallel experiments 6.15 g/L of reducing sugar was achieved with switch grass (20g/L) and 2.5 g/L of reducing sugar was recorded with gelatinized starch(20g/L), suggesting an additive effect to the total sugar yield. Results indicate that unused starchy materials and starchy wastes can be employed as adjuncts in lignocellulose biomass saccharification using co-produced enzymes and/or a combination of the enzymes.