Biobleaching of oxygen delignified kraft pulp by several white rot fungal strains

Twenty-five white rot fungal strains were tested for their ability to bleach Eucalyptus globulus oxygen delignified kraft pulp (OKP). Under nitrogen-limited culture conditions, eight outstanding biobleaching strains were identified that increased the brightness of OKP by more than 10 ISO units compared to pulp incubated in sterile control medium. The highest brightness gain of approximately 13 ISO units was obtained with Bjerkandera sp. strain BOS55, providing a high final brightness of 82% ISO. This strain also caused the greatest level of delignification, decreasing the kappa number of OKP by 29%. When the white rot fungal strains were tested in nitrogen-sufficient medium, the extracellular activities of laccase and peroxidases increased in many strains; nonetheless, the pulp handsheets were either destroyed or brightness gains were lower than those obtained under nitrogen-limitation. The titer of ligninolytic enzymes was not found to be indicative of biobleaching potential. However, the best biobleaching strains were generally characterized by a predominance of manganese dependent peroxidase (MnP) activity compared to other ligninolytic enzymes and by a high decolorizing activity towards the polyanthraquinone ligninolytic indicator dye, Poly R-478. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.