Enzymic release of reducing sugars from oat hulls by cellulase, as influenced by Aspergillus ferulic acid esterase and trichoderma xylanase.

Hydroxycinnamic acids, mainly ferulic and p-coumaric acids, are believed to be inhibitory to ruminal biodegradability of complex cell wall materials such as oat hulls. Previous studies have shown that a novel enzyme, Aspergillus ferulic acid esterase, and Trichoderma xylanase act synergistically to break the ester linkage between ferulic acid and the attached sugar of feruloyl polysaccharides, releasing ferulic acid from oat hulls. In this paper, we examined the enzymic release of reducing sugars from oat hulls by the actions of individual enzymes (Aspergillus ferulic acid esterase at 13 mU, 6.

Release of ferulic acid from oat hulls by Aspergillus ferulic acid esterase and trichoderma xylanase.

Oat hulls, an agricultural byproduct, contain a relatively high amount of ferulic acid (FA; 4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamic acid), which is believed to be inhibitory to oat hull biodegradability by rumen microorganisms. In this paper, Aspergillus ferulic acid esterase (FAE) was investigated for its ability to release FA from oat hulls. The objectives were to determine the effects of particle size of oat hulls (ground to pass through 1 mm and 250 microm screens and a 100 microm sieve) on release of FA by FAE both in the presence and in the absence of Trichoderma xylanase.