Insight into the role of α-arabinofuranosidase in biomass hydrolysis: cellulose digestibility and inhibition by xylooligomers

Background α-l-Arabinofuranosidase (ARA), a debranching enzyme that can remove arabinose substituents from arabinoxylan and arabinoxylooligomers (AXOS), promotes the hydrolysis of the arabinoxylan fraction of biomass; however, the impact of ARA on the overall digestibility of cellulose is controversial. In this study, we investigated the effects of the addition of ARA on cellulase hydrolytic action.