Fungal cellulase/xylanase production and corresponding hydrolysis using pretreated corn stover as substrates.

Three pretreated corn stover (ammonia fiber expansion, dilute acid, and dilute alkali) were used as carbon source to culture Trichoderma reesei Rut C-30 for cellulase and xylanase production. The results indicated that the cultures on ammonia fiber expansion and alkali pretreated corn stover had better enzyme production than the acid pretreated ones. The consequent enzymatic hydrolysis was performed applying fungal enzymes on pretreated corn stover samples. Tukey's statistical comparisons exhibited that there were significant differences on enzymatic hydrolysis among different combination of fungal enzymes and pretreated corn stover. The higher sugar yields were achieved by the enzymatic hydrolysis of dilute alkali pretreated corn stover.