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Abstract:One of the concerns for economical production of ethanol from biomass is the large volume and high cost of the cellulolytic enzymes used to convert biomass into fermentable sugars. The presence of acetyl groups in hemicellulose and lignin in plant cell walls reduces accessibility of biomass to the enzymes and makes conversion a slow process. In addition to low enzyme accessibility, a rapid deactivation of cellulases during biomass hydrolysis can be another factor contributing to the low sugar recovery. As of now, the economical reduction in lignin content of the biomass is considered a bottleneck, and raises issues for several reasons. The presence of lignin in biomass reduces the swelling of cellulose fibrils and accessibility of enzyme to carbohydrate polymers. It also causes an irreversible adsorption of the cellulolytic enzymes that prevents effective enzyme activity and recycling. Amphiphiles, such as surfactants and proteins have been found to improve enzyme activity by several mechanisms of action that are not yet fully understood. Reduction in irreversible adsorption of enzyme to non-specific sites, reduction in viscosity of liquid and surface tension and consequently reduced contact of enzyme with air-liquid interface, and modifications in biomass chemical structure are some of the benefits derived from surface active molecules. Application of some of these amphiphiles could potentially reduce the capital and operating costs of bioethanol production by reducing fermentation time and the amount of enzyme used for saccharification of biomass. In this review article, the benefit of applying amphiphiles at various stages of ethanol production (i.e., OPEN ACCESSAppl. Sci. 2013, 3 397 pretreatment, hydrolysis and hydrolysis-fermentation) is reviewed and the proposed mechanisms of actions are described.

The aim of the present study was to compare bioethanol production from wet exploded corn stover (WECS) and loblolly pine (WELP) hydrolyzed with in-house and commercial enzymes and fermented separately (SHF) and simultaneously (SSF). In-house enzymes produced from Trichoderma reesei, RUT-C30 and a novel fungal strain, Aspergillus saccharolyticus were loaded as 5 and 15 FPU/g glucan and supplemented with 10 and 30 CBU/g glucan, respectively. For hydrolysis and fermentation, slurries of WECS and WELP at 5 and 10% (w/w) solids loading (SL) were utilized. Saccharomyces cerevisae was used for ethanol fermentation at 33°C. Maximally, 15.6 g/L and 13.4 g/L (corresponding to theoretical ethanol yield of 76% and 67%, respectively) were achieved in SSF process from WECS and WELP, respectively at 5% SL and 15 FPU/g glucan loading of in-house enzymes. Ethanol concentrations in all cases were higher for SSF compared to SHF under same conditions. A cross comparison of SSF with commercial enzymes (Celluclast 1.5 L + Novozym 188) showed highest ethanol concentration of 17.3 g/L and 15.4 g/L (corresponding to theoretical ethanol yield of 84% and 77%, respectively) from WECS and WELP, respectively at 5% SL and 15 FPU/g glucan. These findings demonstrated that in-house enzymes were comparable to commercial enzymes as these fungi produced other lignocellulolytic enzymes beyond cellulase and hence enhanced the overall enzyme activity.