Effects of Gleditsia saponin on high-solids enzymatic hydrolysis of furfural residues

Surfactants are popular additives for the prevention of the inhibitory effect of lignin on cellulolytic enzymes. Saponin is a type of natural surfactant extracted from Gleditsia spp. In this study, the effect of saponin on the high-solids-loading enzymatic hydrolysis of furfural residues (FRs) with a lignin content of 45% was investigated. The optimal dosage of Gleditsia saponin (GS) was determined to be 25-fold greater than its critical micelle concentration (CMC; 0.16 g/L). The addition of GS increased the cellulose conversion by up to 52.63% in high-solids-loading enzymatic hydrolysis. Due to the addition of GS, a maximum cellulose conversion of 74.88% was achieved after FRs had hydrolyzed for 120 h at a solids loading of 20% (w/w) with 30 filter paper unit (FPU)/g-cellulose. The decrease in cellulose conversion was found to exhibit a linear correlation with an increase in the solids loadings from 20.0% to 27.5% (w/w). The surface structural variations of hydrolytic residues were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results indicated that the carbonyl groups of lignin facilitated the binding of GS to the surface of lignin, which resulted in a decrease in the adsorption of between the enzyme and lignin. Interestingly, GS could maintain enzymatic activity in the supernatants.