White-rot fungi pretreatment combined with alkaline/oxidative pretreatment to improve enzymatic saccharification of industrial hemp.

White-rot fungi combined with alkaline/oxidative (A/O) pretreatments of industrial hemp woody core were proposed to improve enzymatic saccharification. In this study, hemp woody core were treated with only white rot fungi, only A/O and combined with the two methods. The results showed that Pleurotus eryngii (P. eryngii) was the most effective fungus for pretreatment. Reducing sugars yield was 329mg/g with 30 Filter Paper Unit (FPU)/g cellulase loading when treated 21day. In the A/O groups, the results showed that when treated with 3% NaOH and 3% H2O2, the yield of reducing sugars was 288mg/g with 30FPU/g cellulase loading. After combination pretreatment with P. eryngii and A/O pretreatment, the reducing sugar yield from enzymatic hydrolysis of combined sample increased 1.10-1.29-fold than that of bio-treated or A/O pretreatment sample at the same conditions, suggesting that P. eryngii combined with A/O pretreatment was an effective method to improve enzyme hydrolysis.