Efficient biorefinery of whole‐cassava for citrate production using Aspergillus niger mutated by ARTP and enhanced co‐saccharification strategy

Background The non-grain crop cassava has attracted intense attention in the biorefinery process. However, efficient biorefinery of the whole-cassava is faced with some challenges due to the existence of strain inhibition and refractory cellulose during the citrate production process. Results Here, a novel breeding method-atmospheric room temperature plasma (ARTP) was applied for the strain improvement of citrate-producing strain Aspergillus niger from the whole-cassava. The citrate yield of the mutant obtained by ARTP mutagenesis increased by 36.5% in comparison with the original strain. Moreover, CA fermentation was further improved on basis of the enhanced co-saccharification strategy by supplementing glucoamylase and cellulase. The fermentation efficiency increased by 35.8% with a 17.0 g/L reduction in residual sugar on the pilot scale. Conclusion All these results confirmed that combination of the novel breeding method and enhanced co-saccharification strategy could efficiently refine the whole-cassava. It also provides inspiration for the production of value-added products and waste disposal in the agro-based industries. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.