Comparison of the Ability of Several White-rot Fungi to Biobleach Acacia Oxygen-delignified Kraft Pulp

Abstract

Previous screening analyses demonstrated that the in vivo biobleaching activities of the white-rot fungi Irpex lacteus KB-1.1 and Lentinus tigrinus LP-7 are higher than those of Phanerochaete chrysosporium and Trametes versicolor. The purpose of the current study was to examine the production of extracellular enzymes of these four white-rot fungi grown on three types of low-cost media containing agricultural and forestry waste, and to evaluate the ability of the produced extracellular enzymes to biobleach Acacia oxygen-delignified kraft pulp (A-OKP). The biobleaching activity of extracellular fractions of I. lacteus, L. tigrinus, T. versicolor, and P. chrysosporium cultures was the most pronounced after 3 days of incubation with Acacia mangium wood powder supplemented with rice bran and 1% glucose (WRBG) with resultant Kappa number reduction of 4.4%, 6.7%, 3.3%, and 3.3%, respectively. Therefore, biobleaching ability of I. lacteus and L. tigrinus have been shown to be higher than of T. versicolor and P. chrysosporium, both in vivo and in vitro.