Effects of steam explosion on lignocellulosic degradation of, and methane production from, corn stover by a co-cultured anaerobic fungus and methanogen

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of steam explosion on lignocellulose digestibility of, and methane production from corn stover by a co-culture of anaerobic fungus and methanogen. The cumulative methane production at 72 h of incubation from the steam-exploded corn stover was 32.2 +/- 1.74 mL, which not significantly different (P > 0.05) from that of the untreated corn stover (37.1 +/- 1.09 mL). However, steam explosion decreased the hemicellulose contents of corn stover by 28.0 +/- 0.39% and increased the neutral detergent solute by 23.5 +/- 0.25%. While this treatment did not affect the dry matter digestibility (64.1 +/- 0.26%, and 64.1 +/- 0.28%, respectively). In conclusion, the co-culture of anaerobic fungus and methanogen can degrade the crude fibrous portion of corn stover without any pretreatments. It possesses promising biotechnological prospects for conversion of crop residue based straw resources to obtain biofuel in the form of methane.