Microelectric Current Treatment Enhanced Biodegradation of Pumpkin Lignocelluloses by Trichoderma reesei RUT-C30

A homemade microcurrent reactor was used to treat the fermentation of Trichoderma reesei. Results indicated that the yield of saccharides for T. reesei RUT-C30 cultivated in pumpkin lignocellulose broth reaches 38.86% (w/w) when a microcurrent treatment (20 mA, at the 48th hour for 60 min) was carried out, which is significantly higher than the control group (p < 0.05). Additionally, activities of endoglucanase, cellobiohydrolase, xylanase, and pectinase were significantly increased in days 3-7. Furthermore, the fungal growth was facilitated by microelectric treatment, showing a 0.57-fold increase of spore numbers at the sixth day of cultivation. Besides, the monosaccharide composition, including glucose (1.03 mg/mL), xylose (0.12 mg/mL), arabinose (0.31 mg/mL), and fructose (0.13 mg/mL), extracted from the reactor was higher than that without the current treatment. In this work, we improved the biodegradation of lignocellulosic wastes by applying a microcurrent to lignocellulose-degrading fungal cultures and provided a new idea for the lignocellulose material pretreatment and bioconversion.