Title
Hydrolysis process of biomass sorghum and miscanthus biomass using cellulolytic enzymes for ethanol production
Authors
DOMINIKA PIEPRZYK-KOKOCHA ALEKSANDRA WAWRO and JOLANTA BATOG

Published Volume 50 Issue 3-4 March-April
Keywords lignocellulosic biomass, sorghum, miscanthus, enzymatic hydrolysis, ethanol production

Abstract
The process of producing bioethanol from lignocellulosic materials can be divided into a few stages: pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis and ethanol fermentation. The synergistic action of enzymes in the hydrolysis process involves their attack on cellulose by attaching to cellulose fibres on amorphous sites, the cleavage of cellulose chains, cutting off large chain fragments, followed by their decomposition until glucose is obtained. The aim of the study was to compare the action of enzymatic preparations on lignocellulosic raw materials, i.e. sorghum and miscanthus. The plant material was disintegrated and exposed to alkaline treatment. The study included assessing the effect of selected enzymatic mixtures on the content of reducing sugars, according to Miller’s method, which enabled to determine their usefulness in enzymatic hydrolysis. Then, the parameters of the hydrolysis process were determined by Response Surface Methodology for a specific enzymatic preparation – the enzyme dose, pH, temperature and hydrolysis time.