Main lipophilic extractives in different paper pulp types can be removed using the laccase-mediator system

Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2006 Oct;72(4):845-51. doi: 10.1007/s00253-006-0346-1. Epub 2006 Feb 18.

Abstract

Lipophilic extractives in wood and other lignocellulosic materials exert a negative impact in pulp and paper manufacturing causing the so-called pitch problems. In this work, the appropriateness of an enzymatic treatment using the laccase-mediator system for pitch biocontrol is evaluated. With this purpose, three pulp types representative for different raw materials and pulping processes-eucalypt kraft pulping, spruce thermomechanical pulping, and flax soda-anthraquinone pulping-were treated with a high-redox-potential laccase from the basidiomycete Pycnoporus cinnabarinus in the presence of 1-hydroxybenzotriazole as a redox mediator. The gas chromatography and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analyses of the lipophilic extractives from the enzymatically treated pulps revealed that the laccase-mediator treatment completely or greatly removed most of the pitch-causing lipophilic compounds present in the different pulps including: (1) free and conjugated sitosterol in eucalypt paper pulp; (2) resin acids, sterol esters, and triglycerides in spruce pulp; and (3) sterols and fatty alcohols in the flax pulp. Different amounts of free and conjugated 7-oxosterols were found as intermediate products in the oxidation of pulp sterols. Therefore, the laccase-mediator treatment is reported as an efficient method for removing pitch-causing lipophilic compounds from paper pulps obtained from hardwood, softwood, and nonwoody plants.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Chromatography, Gas
  • Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
  • Industrial Microbiology
  • Industrial Waste
  • Laccase / metabolism*
  • Organic Chemicals / analysis*
  • Oxidation-Reduction
  • Paper*
  • Sterols / metabolism
  • Wood

Substances

  • Industrial Waste
  • Organic Chemicals
  • Sterols
  • Laccase