
%0 Journal Article
%A Ford, CW 
%T Effect of particle size and delignification on the rate of digestion of hemicellulose and cellulose by cellulase in mature pangola grass stems
%J Australian Journal of Agricultural Research
%D 1983/06/01
%V 34
%N 3
%P 241-248
%K 
%R https://doi.org/10.1071/AR9830241
%U https://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/AR9830241 
%X Stem cell walls of pangola grass (Digitaria decumbens) were ground to two particle sizes (c. 1 and 0.1 mm diameter), and incubated with cellulase (ex. Trichoderma viride) for varying times before and after delignification. Total cell walls finely ground (0.1 mm) with a Spex Shatterbox mill were initially degraded more rapidly (to 24 h) than delignified 1 mm particles. Thereafter the delignified material was solubilized to a greater extent. Subsequent specific determinations of cell wall polysaccharides indicated that delignification increased the rate of hemicellulose degradation to a greater extent than did particle size reduction, whereas the opposite was found for cellulose. The difference between delignified and Spex-ground residues, in terms of the amount of polysaccharide digested, was much greater for cellulose than hemicellulose. It is concluded that structural features play a more important role in limiting cellulase degradation of cellulose than does association with lignin, the reverse being so for hemicellulose. 
