Bio - Soda Pulping of Bagasse

Sugar cane bagasse is an alternative non-wood source of fiber for producing various grades of paper.
In this study, a biotechnological approach was employed applied as pretreatment to produce pulp
from bagasse : Bagasse from Khouzestan was treated with-selected white-rot fungus, namely
Ceriporiopsis subvermispora L-14807 'in non-Sterile conditions (temperature=27° C and relative
humidity = 85-90%) ; Then, both pretreated and control samples were digested using 14,16 and
18% alkali for 15 and 20 'min. It was-found that as a result of fungal pretreatment, kappa number
" decreased significantly (from 23.7 to 20.9) while yield loss being also observed (from 58.7% to
55/9%). Meanwhile, the results also indicated 'that fungal pretreatment improved paper burst as well
as tensile strength, but reduced folding endurance. Optimum bio-pulp (high burst and high tensile
c strength) could be obtained by cooking fungal pretreated bagasse 'fibers for 15 min at an alkali
concentration of 16% .