Hemicelluloses are crucial structural components in lignocellulosic biomass, as they interlink cellulose microfibrils and lignin in plant cell walls. Distinctive patterns in wood hemicelluloses, influencing their assembly into rigid and flexible domains on cellulose fiber surfaces, significantly impact their mechanical properties [1-3]. Despite being among the most abundant polysaccharides on the earth after cellulose, hemicelluloses remain underutilized industrially, particularly within the pulp industry. Most of hemicelluloses are severely degraded during traditional delignification pulping processes, which negatively impact the mass balances of the processes and their potential use in future material applications. This creates the need to explore alternative mild processing techniques that preserve the native molecular structure of the hemicelluloses.
Here we present the use of novel alkaline laccases in the pre-treatment of lignocellulosic biomass. We have evaluated the influence of different experimental conditions, such as temperature, time, and pH, on the delignification process. The efficiency will be evaluated by assessing the degree of lignin removal and quantifying changes in wood composition and structure using carbohydrate analysis and FTIR. The mild fractionation of lignin from lignocellulosic biomass with preserved hemicellulose content opens new opportunities to use native hemicelluloses and holocellulose fibres with increased hemicellulose content for the design of hydrogels with promising biomedical applications.