Comparative view on microbial consumption of agro-based lignocellulosic waste biomass in sustainable production of cellulases

In the utilization of lignocellulosic biomass, the hydrolysis of lignocellulose is playing a vital role because it decides the amount of glucose that is used for fermentation. Lignin present in lignocellulosic biomass is a major barrier to the effective utilization of their carbohydrate content. Pretreatment of biomass is an essential processing step for making efficient lignocellulose utilization. Polymeric sugars like cellulose and hemicellulose are converted to their corresponding monomers by chemical, physicochemical, and biological methods. Alkaline pretreatment is believed to cleave hydrolyzable linkages in lignin and glycosidic bonds of polysaccharides, which causes a reduction in the degree of polymerization, swelling of the fibers, as well as disruption of the lignin structure. The present paper describes the comparative view on the potential ability of untreated and alkali-treated wheat straw, bagasse, and groundnut shell waste in cellulase production. Application of XRD and FTIR analysis has also been used to compare the potentiality of lignocellulosic biomass. Higher FPase (1.29 ± 0.05 IU/mL) and CMCase (8.64 ± 0.15 IIU/mL) were observed with alkali-treated groundnut shell waste by Aspergillus strain. Alkali-treated raw materials were found quite effective for cellulase production as compared to untreated.