Monday, October 3, 2011

Corn fiber as a raw material for hemicellulose and ethanol production

Com fiber, a byproduct of the wet milling process, has shown to be a substrate of particular interest due to its abundance, ready availability and low value. Corn fiber is primarily composed of the outer seed covering or pericarp of the kernel, along with adherent starch with typicallyl 20% xylose and 10% arabinose in the form of arabinoxylan, 18-24% cellulose and 20% starch although its apparent composition varies considerably according to its source and the method of analysis. As estimate, ethanol yields from com could be increased by approximately 10% if the constituent sugars of corn fiber could be efficiently utilized. Since the xylan in seed fiber is highly branched with arabinose and may cross-links with phenolic acids, GH 10 xylanase and ferulic acid esterases are suggested to supplement for enzymatic hydrolysis.

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