Using Amaranthus green proteins as universal biosurfactant and biosorbent for effective enzymatic degradation of diverse lignocellulose residues and efficient multiple trace metals remediation of farming lands

Improving biomass enzymatic saccharification is effective for crop straw utilization, whereas phytoremediation is efficient for trace metal elimination from polluted agricultural soil. Here, we found that the green proteins extracted from Amaranthus leaf tissue could act as active biosurfactant to remarkably enhance lignocellulose enzymatic saccharification for high bioethanol production examined in eight grassy and woody plants after mild chemical and green-like pretreatments were performed. Notably, this study estimated that total green proteins supply collected from one-hectare-land Amaranth plants could even lead to additional 6400-12,400 tons of bioethanol, being over 10-fold bioethanol yield higher than those of soybean seed proteins and chemical surfactant. Meanwhile, the Amaranth green proteins were characterized as a dominated biosorbent for multiple trace metals (Cd, Pb, As) adsorption, being 2.9-6 folds higher than those of its lignocellulose. The Amaranth plants were also assessed to accumulate much more trace metals than all other plants as previously examined from large-scale contaminated soils. Furthermore, the Amaranth green proteins not only effectively block lignin to release active cellulases for the mostly enhanced biomass hydrolyzes, but also efficiently involve in multiple chemical bindings with Cd, which should thus address critical issues of high-costly biomass waste utilization and low-efficient trace metal remediation.

Automated summary

The study shows that green proteins extracted from Amaranthus plants can significantly enhance lignocellulose enzymatic saccharification, leading to higher bioethanol production, and also exhibit good adsorption capacity for trace metals. Amaranth plants not only effectively block lignin to release active cellulases, but also form various chemical complexes with Cd.