Tailor-made enzyme consortium segregating sclerenchyma fibre bundles from willow bark

Dou Jinze,Zhao Jian,Wang Jincheng,Vuorinen Tapani

doi:10.1039/d2gc00188h

Abstract

Sclerenchyma fibre bundles and pectin were simultaneously segregated from wood bark under a tailored pectin-degrading enzyme consortium alone.

Highlights

Lignocellulosic biomass represents perhaps the only sustainable carbon source that can be valorised to produce both energy, chemicals, and functional materials in large scale.[1]
Wood bark has merely been used as an energy supply in the forest industry and no microbial treatments tailored for bark have been reported, possibly because of its unique recalcitrant macromolecules such as suberin and condensed polyphenols
Proton (1H) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was applied to determine the degree of methylation (DM) and degree of acetylation (DA) of the pectin samples.[37]

Summary

Introduction

Lignocellulosic biomass represents perhaps the only sustainable carbon source that can be valorised to produce both energy, chemicals, and functional materials in large scale.[1]. Significant amounts of another recalcitrant macromolecule, pectin, has been reported to be present in the bark of spruce[7], willow[8] and Scots pine[9]. The β-elimination is known to break down interunit linkages in methyl esterified pectin. The solubilization of pectin fragments in the compound middle lamella leads to intercellular weakening and cell softening.[13] these changes typically require use of alkaline conditions and energy and lead to partial degradation of the sclerenchyma fibre bundles that are present in the bark of several species, such as willow.[14] Breakthroughs in isolation of intact sclerenchyma fibre bundles from bark by selective biotechnical means could make it more attractive source of functional fibre bundles. Willow bark fibre bundles are spinnable to yarn and able to provide excellent protection for ultraviolet radiation and against gram-positive pathogens like Staphylococcus aureus[11]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion