Improved enzymic digestibility of sugar cane bagasse following high temperature autohydrolysis

Summary Sugar cane bagasse was subjected to a two stage autohydrolysis treatment. In the first stage bagasse was heated in the presence of varying amounts of water at temperatures in the range 160–180°C to extract the hemicellulose fraction. The water insoluble residue was then heated in the presence of varying amounts of water at temperatures in the range 203 to 241°C. The effect of autohydrolysis on the digestibility of bagasse was assessed by hydrolysing the material with Trichoderma reesei cellulase enzymes (0.65 FPU/ml).