ENZYMATIC PRETREATMENTS OF NONWOODY PLANTS FOR PULP AND PAPER-PRODUCTION

An enzyme-assisted pulping process was applied to several nonwoody raw materials (wheat and rice straws, corn and cotton stalks, and kenaf c ore and bast). Raw materials underwent a dry mechanical pretreatment f ollowed by biotreatment with enzymatic cocktails from Lentinus edodes. Treated materials were then pulped in a high-yield chemithermomechani cal pulping process. Biotreated samples showed comparable and, in some cases, higher physiocomechanical properties than those obtained from untreated controls. Furthermore, remarkable energy savings were observ ed when pulping biotreated material, regardless of raw material type. Optical properties of control and biotreated samples wee comparable.