Title
Effect of ⁶⁰Co-γ irradiation on the microstructure and enzymatic hydrolysis of rapeseed straw
Authors
C. Y. ZHANG X. J. SU Q. L. HU T. ZHANG X. H. TAN and X. Y. XIONG

Received November 22, 2014
Published Volume 50 Issue 9-10 October-December
Keywords rapeseed straw, γ-ray irradiation, enzymatic hydrolysis, microstructure, total reducing sugar, sugar compounds

Abstract
In this study, rapeseed straw was pretreated with 60Co-γ radiation and digested with cellulase to improve sugar production. The compositions of straw were analyzed. Results showed that there were remarkable changes in total reducing sugar and an increase in the degradation of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. At a dose of 1200 kGy, 39.3 times more reducing sugar from the irradiated straw was released, as compared to the control (not irradiated) straw (35.34 vs. 0.90 mg/g). Furthermore, both the total content and the number of species of sugar compounds increased. Enzymatic digestion of the irradiated straw resulted in the degradation of 79.21% and 75.59% of cellulose and hemicellulose, respectively. The total reducing sugar increased by a factor of 4.6 to 392.50 mg/g in the irradiated straw from 86.18 mg/g in the control, with greater total content and more species of sugar compounds. Analyses with X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy showed that the microstructure of the irradiated straw was destroyed.