Enzymatic hydrolysis of ammonia-treated sugar beet pulp

Sugar beet pulp is a carbohydrate-rich coproduct generated by the table sug ar industry. Beet pulp has shown promise as a feedstock for ethanol product ion using enzymes to hydrolyze polymeric carbohydrates and engineered bacte ria to ferment sugars to ethanol. In this study, sugar beet pulp underwent an ammonia pressurization depressurization (APD) pretreatment in which the pulp was exploded by the sudden evaporation of ammonia in a reactor vessel. APD was found to substantially increase hydrolysis efficiency of the cellu lose component, but when hemicellulose- and pectin-degrading enzymes were a dded, treated pulp hydrolysis was no better than the untreated control.