Evaluation of Enzymatic Hydrolysis of CELSS Wheat Residue Cellulose at a Scale Equivalent to NASA's KSC Breadboard Project

Biomass processing at the Kennedy Space Center CELSS breadboard project has focused on the evaluation of breadboard-scale enzymatic hydrolysis of wheat residue cellulose (25%, w/w). Five replicate runs of cellulase production by Trichoderma reesei (QM9414) and enzymatic hydrolysis of residue cellulose were completed. Enzymes were produced in 10 days (5 L, 25 g [dry weight] residue). Cellulose hydrolysis (12 L, 50 g [dry weight] residue) using these enzymes produced 5.5 to 6.0 g glucose liter^-1 in 7 days. Cellulose conversion efficiency was 29%. These processes are feasible technically on a breadboard scale, but would only increase the edible wheat yield 10%.