ENZYMATIC HYDROLYSIS OF CASSAVA BAGASSE USING CELLULASE AND XYLANASE: A STUDY OF ENZYME SYNERGY

ABSTRACT

Enzymatic hydrolysis is a highly selective and environmentally friendly method of converting cellulose to sugars. It utilizes the enzyme cellulase, which is a combination of at least three distinct enzymes that work synergistically. This method consumes less energy, produces higher conversion yields, and requires ambient operating conditions. Additionally, enzymatic hydrolysis does not cause corrosion and has a lesser impact on the environment compared to acid hydrolysis. Cassava bagasse, a byproduct of cassava processing, has a high cellulose content, making it an attractive option for biofuel production. Enzymatic hydrolysis can be used to convert the cellulose in cassava bagasse into fermentable sugars, which can then be fermented to produce biobutanol. The hydrolysis experiment was carried out by mixing a batch of measured samples of pretreated cassava bagasse with measured samples of cellulase at first after mixing another batch with measured samples of cellulase-xylanase enzyme cocktail mixture in a 1:1 ratio, these two separate batches were left in the water bath shaker to shake at 500C and the absorbance readings were taken after 6 and 24 hours respectively using a spectrophotometer to calculate for reducing sugar yield and then in turn percentage hydrolysis yield. The readings taken after the 6th hour showed that cellulase alone had a greater reducing sugar yield and percentage hydrolysis yield compared to the cocktail of cellulase and xylanase and this is because the specificity of the enzymes in the cocktail caused overall hydrolysis efficiency to be reduced. As for the readings taken at the 24th hour, the enzyme cocktail of cellulase and xylanase had a greater reducing sugar yield and percentage hydrolysis yield than cellulase alone, and this is attributed to the synergistic effect of both enzymes in the cocktail proving that enzyme cocktails are best suited to carry out hydrolysis of biomass. From this experiment, it was observed that an enzyme cocktail mixture would be better for carrying out enzymatic hydrolysis of cassava bagasse. The significance of this experiment is that the enzyme cocktail of cellulase and xylanase can greatly improve percentage hydrolysis which in turn provides more fermentable sugar for the production of biobutanol