Purification, characterization and thermostability improvement of xylanase from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and its application in pre-bleaching of kraft pulp.

Xylanases have important industrial applications but are most extensively utilized in the pulp and paper industry as a pre-bleaching agent. We characterized a xylanase from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain SK-3 and studied it for kraft pulp bleaching. The purified enzyme had a molecular weight of ~50 kDa with optimal activity at pH 9.