Comparative performance of commercial and laboratory enzymatic complexes from submerged or solid-state fermentation in lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysis

The aim of this study was to compare the hydrolysis performances of four lignocellulolytic complexes from commercial or laboratory origin and produced either by solid-state fermentation or by submerged fermentation. To evaluate their potential, saccharification tests were performed on cellulose, as model substrate, and wheat bran, as lignocellulosic substrate, using either the same filter paper unit or the same amount of protein to introduce these enzymatic complexes. A great difference was observed for the laboratory enzymatic complex produced by solid-state fermentation, which has shown a greater efficiency of cellobiohydrolase on cellulose and better conversion capacity on wheat bran, probably due to the presence of side activities. This comparison has proved that solid-state fermentation could be a promising technology to overcome the biomass recalcitrance and lower the cost of conversion step. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.