Effect of particle size and delignification on the rate of digestion of hemicellulose and cellulose by cellulase in mature pangola grass stems

Abstract

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.