The production of bioethanol involves biomass pretreatment and the enzymatic hydrolysis of its polysaccharides into fermentable sugars. The necessary enzymes (exoglucanases, endoglucanase, β-glucosidases, xylanases, plus accessory enzymes) are produced by fungi nevertheless there are differences concerning the types of enzymes that are produced and its excretion levels.

This works evaluated the enzymes produced by Acrophialophora nainiana and Ceratocystis paradoxa. Activity profiles were compared to that of Trichoderma reseei Rut-C30. The growth medium was optimized for carbon (lactose, wheat bran and steam pretreated sugarcane bagasse), and nitrogen sources (corn steep liquor and yeast extract). Shaken flasks cultures were incubated at 30-40ºC and 200 rpm. FPA, CMCase, β-glucosidase and xylanases activities were measured in daily supernatant samples.

The lactose medium was efficient for A.nainiana, resulting in the accumulation of (IU/L) 2016 CMCases, 144 FPA, 9 β-glicosidase and 2200 xylanase. For C.paradoxa wheat bran medium allowed the production of (IU/L) 570 CMCase, 70 FPA, 890 β-glucosidase and 12620 xylanase. T.reseei Rut-C30 produced (IU/L) 25000 CMCase, 1000 FPA, 600 β-glucosidase and 23000 xylanase. C.paradoxa showed to be a strong xilanase producer. Nevertheless the overall CMCase, FPA and xylanase activities for A.nainiana were 10 fold lower in comparison to T.reseei, this microorganism could be a candidate for genetic improvement as their CMCase/FPA and xilanase/FPA ratio are balanced.