ABSTRACT
Kenaf stalk was pretreated by the white-rot fungus Pleurotus sajor-caju incubated in solid-state kenaf stalk cultivation medium. Delignification and subsequent enzymatic saccharification and fermentation of kenaf stalk were investigated in order to evaluate effects of microbial pretreatment on bioconversion of kenaf lignocellulose to fuel ethanol production. The highest delignification rate of 50.20% was obtained after 25-35 days cultivation by P. sajor-caju, which could improve subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency of kenaf cellulose. And the saccharification rate of pretreated kenaf stalk reached 69.33 to 78.64%, 4.5-5.1 times higher than the control. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) with microbial-pretreatment kenaf stalk as substrate was performed. The highest overall ethanol yield of 68.31% with 18.35 to 18.90 mg/mL was achieved after 72 h of SSF.