Conversion of sugarcane bagasse to sugars by microbial hydrolysis

Abstract

Sugarcane bagasse is one of the most abundant low-cost lignocellulosic materials in the world. It consists of 46.7% cellulose, 28.89% hemicellulose, and 13.83% lignin (dry basis). The cellulose and hemicellulose of sugarcane bagasse can be hydrolyzed by microbial hydrolysis into glucose and other fermentable sugars, which can be further served as feedstock in the fermentation process to produce bioethanol. The aim of this research was to investigate the possibility of using bagasse as a raw material to produce glucose by microbial hydrolysis using bacteria isolated from Thai higher termites, Microceroterm sp. The effects of particle sizes (40-60, 60-80, and > 80 mesh), and bacterial strains (A 002 and M 015) isolated from Thai higher termites on microbial hydrolysis were investigated at 37 ºC in order to determine optimum conditions for a maximum glucose concentration. From the results, the highest glucose concentration of 0.46 g/L was obtained by using strain A002 with > 80 mesh bagasse at 8 h. In order to compare glucose production, the >80 mesh bagasse was hydrolyzed enzymatically using a commercial enzyme, which was cellulase produced from Aspergillus niger. The results revealed that the hydrolytic activities of both strains were found to be as high as that of commercial enzyme.