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Hydrolysis of corn leaf utilizing two treatment sequences was carried out in this study. The first treatment was chemical and involved subjecting the corn leaf to an alkaline pre-treatment and then to a smooth acid hydrolysis. The second consisted of biological delignification using the strain Trametes sp. 44 H88, followed by enzymatic hydrolysis using the enzymatic extract produced by Trichoderma sp. H88. The ligninolytic extract produced by Trametes sp. 44 H88 was used to detoxify the hydrolyzate. The results indicate that biological pre-treatment with delignification is more favorable and improves the subsequent hydrolysis, regardless of whether the hydrolysis is chemical or biological. The chemical treatment sequence obtained 80% conversion of monosaccharides, while the biological treatment sequence resulted in a 87% conversion rate. Finally, the use of the ligninolytic extract for the dephenolization of the hydrolyzate reduced the presence of compounds of phenolic origin by 23%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Straw is an agricultural byproduct that can be utilized to obtain bioethanol without affecting animal or human sustinence. This process involves recovering the sugars and reducing the lignin content present through the use of ligninolytic fungi such as the basidiomycete Trametes sp. 44. Fermentation was carried out using particle sizes 4 (4.76 mm, No. 4 sieve) and 8 (2.30 mm, No. 8 sieve), and two velocities of airflow (100 and 200 mL/min). Study results showed that particle size affected the production of hydrolytic enzymes, as particle size 8 favored the expression of cellulases and hemicellulases. In addition, both aeration and particle size affected the expression of ligninolytic enzymes, as it was observed that with particle size 8 and airflow of 200 mL/min, the study detected 63 AU/mL of LiP and 11 AU/mL of MnP. In the case of laccase, the enzymatic activity detected reached 220 AU/mL using particle size 8 and an airflow velocity of 200 mL/min. Statistical analysis indicated that the treatment that produced the highest biological delignification occurred when Trametes sp. 44 was grown on corn straw at particle size 4 and airflow of 100 mL/min, conditions that yielded 34% delignification at day 12 of fermentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]