Evaluation of Commercial Cellulase Preparations for the Efficient Hydrolysis of Hydrothermally Pretreated Empty Fruit Bunches

The performance of cellulase in the enzymatic saccharification of lignocellulose depends on the characteristics of lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks and the pretreatment method used. Efficient hydrolysis of specifically pretreated lignocellulose necessitates the knowledge of the characteristics of the optimal commercial cellulases. In this study, commercial cellulase preparations (Accellerase (TM) 1000, Accellerase (R) 1500, and Spezyme (R) CP from DuPont and Cellic (R) CTec2 from Novozymes) were evaluated for their hydrolysis efficiency of hydrothermally pretreated empty fruit bunches (EFBs). The highest glucose yields of 91.3% and 84.7% were achieved for 30 FPU of Cellic (R) CTec2/g glucan with and without Cellic (R) HTec2, respectively. Of the four cellulases tested, Cellic (R) CTec2, which showed the highest cellobiohydrolase, xylanase, and beta-glucosidase activities, showed the highest glucose yield in the enzymatic hydrolysis of hydrothermally pretreated EFBs. The results of this study are valuable for those who plan to enzymatically hydrolyze hydrothermally pretreated EFBs.