Enzymatic hydrolysis of brewer's spent grain to obtain fermentable sugars

Lignocellulosic biomass is a feedstock with the potential to be converted into value-added bioproducts. The use of enzymatic hydrolysis allows the cleavage of lignocellulose into their monomeric units, but there are some drawbacks that make its use in industrial biocatalysis unfeasible. In the present study, we describe the hydrolysis of brewer's spent grain (BSG) with an enzymatic cocktail produced by Aspergillus niger CECT 2700 and its comparison with commercial enzymes. In addition, it was determined whether pretreating the BSG (non-pressurized alkaline hydrolysis or treatment with cholinium glycinate ionic liquid) is necessary. Results show that both pretreatments enhanced xylose release (10.55 +/- 0.07 g/L and 8.14 +/- 0.13 g/L respectively), meanwhile the hydrolysis of raw BSG with the enzymatic cocktail produced solutions containing high levels of glucose (18.45 +/- 1.66 g/L) and xylose (6.38 +/- 0.26 g/L).