The above findings combined with the results before mentioned
suggest that the effects of hemicellulose and lignin on
enzymatic hydrolysis of BSG cellulose are mainly physical.
According to Ramos et al. [27] the enhancement of pretreated
substrate accessibility to the enzymes can be attributed to
the solubilization of the hemicellulose and lignin fractions,
and to the beneficial effects that the pretreatment has on
changing the morphology and fine structure of the cellulosic
residue. At the fiber level, these changes are mainly depicted
by a partial delamination of the cell wall and a considerable
degree of defibrillation. At the molecular level, however, pretreatment
appears to decrease the polymerization degree of
cellulose.