Microbial pretreatment of piomass

Biological pretreatment of wood chips has attract great attention and research activities to reduce the mechanical pulping refining energy. The same principle and idea can be applied to biomass pretreatment for lignocellulosic ethanol production.

A review of the literature suggests that fungal pretreatment could potentially lower the severity requirements of acid, temperature and time. These reductions in severity are also expected to result in less biomass degradation and consequently lower inhibitor concentrations compared to conventional thermochemical pretreatment. Furthermore, potential advantages of fungal pretreatment of agricultural residues, such as corn stover, are suggested by its effectiveness
in improving the cellulose digestibility of many types of forage fiber and agricultural wastes.