title: Mechanical fragmentation of corncob at different plant scales: Impact and mechanism on microstructure features and enzymatic hydrolysis.
abstract: In this work, corncob samples at different scales, i.e., plant scale (>1mm), tissue scale (500-100μm) and cellular scale (50-30μm), were produced to investigate the impact and mechanisms of different mechanical fragmentations on microstructure features and enzymatic hydrolysis. The results showed that the microstructure features and enzymatic hydrolysis of corncob samples, either at a plant scale or tissue scale, did not change significantly. Conversely, corncob samples at a cellular scale exhibited some special properties, i.e., an increase in the special surface area with the inner mesopores and macropores exposed to the surface; breakage of crystalline cellulose and linkages in polysaccharides; and a higher proportion of polysaccharides on the surface, which significantly enhanced enzymatic digestibility resulting in a 98.3% conversion yield of cellulose to glucose which is the highest conversion ever reported. In conclusion, mechanical fragmentation at the cellular scale is an effective pretreatment for corncob.
authors.affiliation: College of Engineering, China Agricultural University, Box 191, Beijing 100083, China.
authors.forename: Guanya
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: College of Engineering, China Agricultural University, Box 191, Beijing 100083, China.
authors.forename: Chongfeng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: College of Engineering, China Agricultural University, Box 191, Beijing 100083, China.
authors.forename: Weihua
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: College of Engineering, China Agricultural University, Box 191, Beijing 100083, China. Electronic address: hanlj@cau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Lujia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D044602:Cellulases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D005947:Glucose / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D006868:Hydrolysis; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D010316:Particle Size; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D013499:Surface Properties; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction; D003313:Zea mays / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*
chemical_list: D011134:Polysaccharides; D002482:Cellulose; D044602:Cellulases; D005947:Glucose
keywords: Corncob; Different plant scales; Enzymatic hydrolysis; Mechanical fragmentation; Microstructure features