Performance of a beer brewing enzyme in lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysis for bioethanol production

The value of olive pomace, a waste obtained from olive oil processing, would be greatly increased if its constituents, cellulose, and hemicellulose fractions could be easily converted into fermentable sugars. To achieve this goal, several approaches have been proposed by combining physico-chemical and biological treatments with enzymatic hydrolysis. However, studies on enzymatic hydrolysis, an important step in the conversion process, have been carried out with a fairly well-known range of enzymes. Thus, proposing another enzyme will broaden the range of enzymes intended for lignocellulosic biomass conversion. In the context of such an objective, this work deals with the performance of the Filtrase NLC, an enzyme usually used in the beer brewing process on the hydrolysis of acid and alkaline pretreated olive pomace. Results obtained show that both acid and alkaline treatments allowed a decrease in hemicelluloses and lignin content, but alkali treatment was more efficient. 15.40 g of glucose was released in the enzymatic hydrolysis of the alkali-treated solid when using enzyme at 125 filter paper unit (FPU) per gram of substrate and 15 % (w/v) solid concentration. This conversion has been demonstrated by the simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) test, where 11 % (v/v) of ethanol concentration was obtained. Based on these results, Filtrase NLC could be used successfully for the production of fermentable sugars from olive pomace and potentially from other lignocellulosic biomass.