Lee J
Bioprocess Engineering Laboratory, Hanhyo Institutes of Technology, Taejon, South Korea.
J Biotechnol. 1997 Jul 23;56(1):1-24. doi: 10.1016/s0168-1656(97)00073-4.
The important key technologies required for the successful biological conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to ethanol have been extensively reviewed. The biological process of ethanol fuel production utilizing lignocellulose as substrate requires: (1) delignification to liberate cellulose and hemicellulose from their complex with lignin, (2) depolymerization of the carbohydrate polymers (cellulose and hemicellulose) to produce free sugars, and (3) fermentation of mixed hexose and pentose sugars to produce ethanol. The development of the feasible biological delignification process should be possible if lignin-degrading microorganisms, their echophysiological requirements, and optimal bioreactor design are effectively coordinated. Some thermophilic anaerobes and recently-developed recombinant bacteria have advantageous features for direct microbial conversion of cellulose to ethanol, i.e. the simultaneous depolymerization of cellulosic carbohydrate polymers with ethanol production. The new fermentation technology converting xylose to ethanol needs also to be developed to make the overall conversion process more cost-effective. The bioconversion process of lignocellulosics to ethanol could be successfully developed and optimized by aggressively applying the related novel science and technologies to solve the known key problems of conversion process.
关于将木质纤维素生物质成功生物转化为乙醇所需的重要关键技术，已有广泛综述。以木质纤维素为底物生产乙醇燃料的生物过程需要：（1）脱木质素，以使纤维素和半纤维素从与木质素的复合物中释放出来；（2）碳水化合物聚合物（纤维素和半纤维素）解聚以产生游离糖；（3）混合己糖和戊糖发酵以生产乙醇。如果能有效协调木质素降解微生物、它们的生态生理需求以及最佳生物反应器设计，那么可行的生物脱木质素工艺的开发应该是有可能的。一些嗜热厌氧菌和最近开发的重组细菌对于纤维素直接微生物转化为乙醇具有优势特性，即纤维素碳水化合物聚合物同时解聚并产生乙醇。还需要开发将木糖转化为乙醇的新发酵技术，以使整个转化过程更具成本效益。通过积极应用相关新颖科学技术来解决转化过程中已知的关键问题，木质纤维素到乙醇的生物转化过程能够成功开发并优化。
