Crude ligninolytic enzyme extracts from Phanerochaete chrysosporium fungi were applied to sugarcane bagasse, prior to thermomechanical (TMP) and chemithermomechanical pulping (CTMP), and their properties were compared with the normal TMP and CTMP and also with TMP and CTMP pretreated with Ceriporiopsis subvermispora and P. chrysosporium fungi. The sugarcane bagasse was impregnated with the crude enzyme extract containing lignin peroxidase (LiP), manganese peroxidase (MnP), and laccase (Lac). The results show that pretreatment with enzyme crude extract is an advantageous way to produce TMP and CTMP from sugarcane bagasse, as compared with only fungal pretreatment. Enzymatic pretreatments need only hours to enhance pulping and paper properties, compared with the weeks necessary for fungal treatments. Higher pulp yields were obtained compared with the fungal pretreatments. Enzymatic pretreatment reduced the energy consumption in a proportion similar to that of C. subvermispora fungal pretreatment and increased the pulp tensile index compared with the normal TMP and CTMP pulps, although the tensile strength was somewhat lower than that for pulps from C. subvermispora fungal pretreatment before CTMP processing. An advantage of enzymatic pretreatment is that brightness is increased compared with normal TMP and CTMP processes, whereas fungal pretreatments reduce the brightness.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.