Abstract

SALVADOR PINOS, Carmen et al. Empleo de biocatalizadores en la degradación de material lignocelulósico: principales impactos. Figempa [online]. 2018, vol.5, n.1, pp.41-46. ISSN 2602-8484.  https://doi.org/10.29166/revfig.v1i1.799.

The present work explains the current efforts to develop an accessible, profitable and clean technology for the utilization of lignocellulosic residues to obtain ethanol and other derivatives through fermentative processes of the different sugars and by-products that result from the degradation of cellulose. Biomass, whose main component is cellulose, is the most abundant raw material on the planet, and its rational use would produce enormous economic and ecological benefits. Acid hydrolysis of cellulose is expensive and pollutant. Therefore, it is intended to escalate to industrial levels the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose, by means of enzymes produced by several species of fungi (Trichoderma, Aspergillus, etc.), bacteria and other organisms, and looking for other industrially useful sources for a biorefinery. It is ecologically beneficial, and potentially much less expensive, but it is necessary to reproduce to an industrial scale the activity observed in laboratory conditions. Genetic engineering helps to diversify the production of enzymes or increase the amount produced by organisms. The complete enzymatic hydrolysis uses cellulolytic enzymes: endoglucanases, exoglucanases and ß-glucosidases, hardly produced in industrially interesting amounts by a single organism, being necessary to combine several of them. In addition, techniques such as recycling or recirculation of enzymes within the bioreactor would help an integral use. Another line of research is the mathematical modeling of the production of enzymatic crudes with simulators such as Superpro Designer and others. The great variety of products obtained from plant biomass, from ethanol to citric acid, lactic acid, uronic acids, acetic acid, etc., support the economic, social, industrial and ecological benefits that this technology would generate.

Keywords : enzymes; cellulases; enzymatic hydrolysis; bioreactor; cellulolic activity; biomass.

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