An improved procedure for isolation of residual lignins from hardwood kraft pulps

Residual lignin preparations were isolated from birch, aspen and Eucalyptus grandis kraft pulp by enzymatic hydrolysis of the pulps with cellulase:hemicellulase mixture. Residual lignin preparations were characterized by investigation of nitrogen content, carbohydrate composition and molecular mass distribution. The use of enzyme with high activity and optimization of enzyme charge resulted in significant decrease in protein contaminants in residual lignin preparations as compared to previously published results. A second order law correlation between enzyme mass charge and nitrogen content in birch residual lignin preparations indicates a strong effect of enzyme charge on the amount of protein contaminants. However, the enzyme charge in the range studied does not appreciably affect either the yields of the residual lignin preparations or percentage and composition of carbohydrates in these preparations. The optimal enzyme charge was highest for Eucalyptus grandis pulp and lowest for birch pulp. It has been suggested that a significant part of the hardwood residual lignin in pulps, especially in E. grandis pulp, consists of low molecular mass lignin fragments bonded to pulp carbohydrates. Higher amount of glucose in E. grandis residual lignin preparation compared to those from birch and aspen implied a higher frequency of lignin-cellulose bonds in eucalypt pulp. Different fractions of birch residual lignin have rather similar molecular mass distribution, which was not affected by the charge of the enzyme. Eucalypt residual lignin preparation had higher molecular mass than birch residual lignin.