Valorization of Wheat Bran by Co-Cultivation of Fungi with Integrated Hydrolysis to Provide Sugars and Animal Feed

oleh: Fabian Mittermeier, Fabienne Fischer, Sebastian Hauke, Peter Hirschmann, Dirk Weuster-Botz

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2024-05-01

Deskripsi

The enzymatic hydrolysis of agricultural residues like wheat bran enables the valorization of otherwise unused carbon sources for biotechnological processes. The co-culture of <i>Aspergillus niger</i> and <i>Trichoderma reesei</i> with wheat bran particles as substrate produces an enzyme set consisting of xylanases, amylases, and cellulases that is suitable to degrade lignocellulosic biomass to sugar monomers (D-glucose, D-xylose, and L-arabinose). An integrated one-pot process for enzyme production followed by hydrolysis in stirred tank bioreactors resulted in hydrolysates with overall sugar concentrations of 32.3 g L<sup>−1</sup> and 24.4 g L<sup>−1</sup> at a 25 L and a 1000 L scale, respectively, within 86 h. Furthermore, the residual solid biomass consisting of fermented wheat bran with protein-rich fungal mycelium displays improved nutritional properties for usage as animal feed due to its increased content of sugars, protein, and fat.