Pretreatment of paddy straw with Trametes hirsuta for improved enzymatic saccharification

► High ligninase and low cellulase activities of Trametes hirsuta MTCC136 in qualitative and quantitative enzyme assays. ► High extent of lignin break down, observed from high absorbance at 205 nm of the alkali extracts of pretreated paddy straw. ► Recovery of value-added acid-precipitable polymeric lignin (APPL) from the pretreated paddy straw. ► 52.69% saccharification efficiency of the biologically pretreated paddy straw after 72 h of incubation with a potent enzyme.