Influence of solid loading on enzymatic hydrolysis of steam exploded or liquid hot water pretreated olive tree biomass

Olive tree pruning biomass, pretreated by either liquid hot water or steam explosion under selected conditions, was used as a substrate for enzymatic hydrolysis. The pretreated material was further submitted to alkaline delignification, the objective being to improve hydrolysis yields as well as increasing cellulose content in the pretreated feedstock. The enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated residues was performed using a commercial cellulase mixture supplemented with β-glucosidase, using a solid loading range from 2 to 30% (w/v). The influence of substrate concentration on the enzymatic hydrolysis yield and on glucose concentration was studied. Comparative results with and without a delignification step are presented. Enzymatic hydrolysis at high substrate concentration (≥20%) is possible, yielding a concentrated glucose solution (>50 g/L). Nevertheless, a cellulose fraction of the pretreated residue remains unaltered.