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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
This study was undertaken to find the optimum conditions of a new enzymatic process to remove plant
residues from wool. Commercial enzymatic preparations of Celluclast 1.5 L and Pectinex Ultra SP-L were
selected in order to hydrolyze the polysaccharides in primary plant cell walls and middle lamella, resulting
into more fragile residues easier to be removed. Since it was intended to define the optimal conditions
for enzyme application, a four-factor central composite design was selected to study the effects of pH,
temperature, enzyme concentration and wetting agent concentration, on the two selected responses, i.e.,
soluble reducing sugars (RS) and alkali solubility (AS) of wool to detect plant degradation and to evaluate wool quality, respectively. Results demonstrated that enzyme concentration was the most significant
effect in plant residues degradation. A total enzyme concentration loading of 20 mL of both diluted enzymatic preparations in equal parts per 1 L of incubation solution (42.970 U/L of Celluclast preparation and
PG 29.3 nkat/L + PME 2.537 nkat/L of Pectinex preparation), yielded an equivalent amount of 240.127 mg
of glucose per 1.0 g of plant residue, at the optimal conditions: 40.56 ◦C, pH 4.0 and 1 mL Plurafac/L. SEM
analysis has indicated an identical and important degradation of the plant residues, when compared to
the conventional carbonization process, and wool quality has been preserved.
Description
Keywords
Biodegradation Cell-wall-polysaccharides Enzyme technology Response surface methodology Modeling Optimization