Pretreatment of Marasmius sp. on Biopulping of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches

Abstract

White rot fungi have an ability to degrade lignin by employing lignin-degrading enzymes i.e Lignin Peroxidase, Manganese Peroxidase and Laccase. Therefore, the fungi can be utilized on the pretreatment of biomass in pulp making (biopulping) and biobleaching. In this study, the pretreatment using White Rot Fungi of Marasmius sp. has been conducted on the the Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches (EFBs). Marasmius sp. has been grown on EFBs for 30 days. The results showed that the lignin content could be removed by 35.94%. However, cellulose and hemicelluloses relatively did not show any changes in the EFBs. From the pulping process, the pretreatment exhibited the Kappa Number of 31.10. Compared to no pretreatment of white rot fungi, the Kappa Number obtained was 38.63. This result demonstrated a promising process for a green pulp making.