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. 2019 Jun 27:23:e00358.
doi: 10.1016/j.btre.2019.e00358. eCollection 2019 Sep.

Flax treatment with strategic enzyme combinations: Effect on chemical fiber composition and ease of fiber extraction

Jana De Prez  1 , Aart Willem Van Vuure  2 , Jan Ivens  3 , Guido Aerts  1 , Ilse Van de Voorde  1
Affiliations

Flax treatment with strategic enzyme combinations: Effect on chemical fiber composition and ease of fiber extraction

Jana De Prez et al. Biotechnol Rep (Amst). .

Erratum in

Abstract

The effect of treatment of flax with strategic enzyme combinations on the ease of fiber extraction and the chemical fiber composition is reported in this study. To contribute to the increasing demand for bio-based and sustainable materials, it is of great importance to develop optimal enzyme formulations which can replace the yet poorly controlled traditional dew retting process. Regarding the chemical composition of the fiber, enzymatic treatments all resulted in similar improvements, with an enhanced cellulose content of 81 ± 1% after polygalacturonase + xylanase treatment (vs. 64 ± 2% for green fibers). Evaluation of extraction efficiency (EE) showed that several enzyme combinations significantly increased EE in comparison with green fibers. An EE of 23 ± 6% was found for fibers extracted after polygalacturonase + pectinmethylesterase treatment, in comparison with an EE of 11 ± 1% for green fibers. Combinations with three enzymes resulted in a higher reduction of the pectin content of the fibers. The combination of enzymes shows hence promising potential but further evaluation of mechanical performance of fiber reinforced composites is needed.

Keywords: Enzymatic treatment; Extraction efficiency; Natural fibers; Polygalacturonase; Xylanase.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Overview of strategic enzyme combinations.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Overview of (A) fiber efficiency (Ef), (B) time efficiency (Et) and (C) overall extraction efficiency (EE) of references and fibers after enzymatic treatment. * Data adapted from [11].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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