The influence of pH upon the hydrolysis of carboxymethylcellulose with cellulases from Trichoderma reesei

Abstract We have studied the enzymatic hydrolysis of carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) with Celluclast, a commercial preparation of cellulases deriving from Trichoderma reesei, by monitoring the variation in the concentrations of glucose and reducing sugars at a constant temperature of 50°C and different pH values. We determined both glucose and overall yield, concluding that the production of glucose directly by endoglucanase is higher than that coming from the hydrolysis of cellobiose by β‐1,4‐glucosidase and that the rate at which cellobiose is formed can be calculated via kinetic parameters that are due in the end mainly to exoglucanase activity. We observed the effect of pH upon the kinetic parameters and found that the ideal value for the hydrolysis of CMC is one of pH 4.9.