Fermenting Wood Substrates with a Rumen Cellulolytic Bacterium

Wood waste contains considerable amounts of potentially fermentable material, and in this study an attempt has been made to determine the fermentability of various wood species, the beneficial effect of some pre-treatments, and the factors that inhibit fermentation. A rumen cellulose decomposing organism was used to test both treated and untreated wood for usefulness as substrate material. The test organism used was isolated from the paunch ingesta of cattle. The following wood species were used: white pine, red pine, eastern larch, Douglas-fir, western larch, black spruce, aspen, black ash, white elm, basswood, white birch, and yellow birch. All data indicate that the organism is identical with Ruminococcus flavefaciens. Although aspen and ash were fermented without pre-treatment, other woods were rendered fermentable by milling, alkali cooking, and predigestion. Softwoods were generally less fermentable than were hardwoods.

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