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Eco-friendly Bleaching of Agrowaste Wheat Straw Using Crude Alkalo-Thermotolerant Cellulase-Free Xylano-Pectinolytic Enzymes

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of xylanase-pectinase enzymes in bleaching of wheat straw pulp, just to cut down the toxic wastes, in order to manage the environmental pollution. The appropriate parameters of bleaching were evaluated, and best conditions were xylanase and pectinase dose of 5.0 and 1.66 IU/g of pulp, respectively, along with material to liquid ratio of 1:7.5 (g/ml), temperature 55 °C, treatment time 3 h, Tween-80 1%, and pH 8.5. The release of reducing sugar and other non-cellulosic impurities, phenolic-hydrophobic-lignin was maximum at best bleaching conditions. Prebleaching of wheat straw pulp using these enzymes showed 14.75% decline in kappa number. Enzymatic bleaching plus 100% chemical bleaching also led to 27.90% reduction in yellowness. Using this methodology, the consumption of active chlorine was reduced up to 25%, along with an increase in burst index (7.98%), tear index (3.42%), breaking length (5.30%), viscosity (11.22%), gurley porosity (12.50%), and double-fold number (23.08%), which exhibits a remarkable enhancement in all the properties of pulp treated with enzymes. Microscopic images also confirm the effectiveness of enzymatic treatment in bleaching of wheat straw pulp. BOD and COD values of effluent also decreased by 20.74 and 17.87%, respectively. This research focussing on producing better grade paper using an eco-friendly approach would certainly benefit the paper and pulp industry. This is the first report, depicting bleaching capability of xylanase-pectinase enzymes for soda-anthraquinone pulp of wheat straw.

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Abbreviations

BOD:

Biochemical oxygen demand

COD:

Chemical oxygen demand

SAQ:

Soda-anthraquinone

CEH:

C—chlorination, E—alkaline extraction, H—hypochlorite

TAPPI:

Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry

TSS:

Total suspended solids

TDS:

Total dissolved solids

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Acknowledgements

The corresponding author would like to thank Avantha Centre for Industrial Research and Development (ACIRD), Yamuna Nagar, for providing their laboratory facilities.

Funding

The financial support provided by Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India (Grant Number: BT/PR 20438/BCE/8/1220/2016 for 3 years).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biotechnology, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, India

    Divya Sharma, Raksha Nagpal, Sharad Agrawal & Ritu Mahajan

  2. Department of Life Sciences, IAMR College, Ghaziabad, India

    Divya Sharma

  3. Department of Life Sciences, SBSR, Sharda University, Noida, India

    Sharad Agrawal

  4. Avantha Centre for Industrial Research and Development, Paper Mill Campus, Yamuna Nagar, India

    Nishikant Bhardwaj

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  1. Divya Sharma
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Correspondence to Ritu Mahajan.

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Sharma, D., Nagpal, R., Agrawal, S. et al. Eco-friendly Bleaching of Agrowaste Wheat Straw Using Crude Alkalo-Thermotolerant Cellulase-Free Xylano-Pectinolytic Enzymes. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 194, 620–634 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-021-03641-6

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