Laccase pretreatment for agrofood wastes valorization

• Published in: Bioresource technology Vol. 265; pp. 59 - 65
• Main Authors: Giacobbe, Simona, Pezzella, Cinzia, Lettera, Vincenzo, Sannia, Giovanni, Piscitelli, Alessandra
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-10-2018
• Subjects: Agrofood waste valorization; Detoxification; Enzymatic hydrolysis; Laccase pretreatment; Sequential protocol; Agrofood waste valorization; Enzymatic hydrolysis; Laccase pretreatment; Detoxification; Sequential protocol
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2018.05.108

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•Two laccase preparations from Pleurotus ostreatus were applied to pretreat AFWs.•Fungal laccases alone or with a mediator were able to delignify and detoxify AFWs.•Sequential protocol was successfully developed.•The developed sequential protocol enhanced saccharification yields of analysed AFWs.
Apple pomace, potato peels, and coffee silverskin are attractive agrofood wastes for the production of biofuels and chemicals, due to their abundance and carbohydrate content. As lignocellulosic biomasses, their conversion is challenged by the presence of lignin that prevents hydrolysis of polysaccharides, hence demanding a pretreatment step. In this work, the effectiveness of Pleurotus ostreatus laccases (with and without mediator) to remove lignin, improving the subsequent saccharification, was assessed. Optimized conditions for sequential protocol were set up for all agrofood wastes reaching delignification and detoxification yields correlated with high saccharification. Especially noteworthy were results for apple pomace and coffee silverskin for which 83% of and 73% saccharification yields were observed, by using laccase and laccase mediator system, respectively. The herein developed sequential protocol, saving soluble sugars and reducing the amount of wastewater, can improve the overall process for obtaining chemicals or fuels from agrofood wastes.