Separation of enzymes from

1. A process for separating, from a culture medium, Trichoderma reesei fungus from enzymes produced in the culture medium by the fungus during a production step, comprising

a) subjecting said culture medium, within a period of 0-30 h, inclusive, from halting the production step, and at ambient temperature without prior cooling, to separation of solid and liquid phases on a filter press lined with a fabric having a porosity of 3-20 μm, whereby a liquid phase filtrate containing the enzymes having a corrected optical density (OD) at 600 nm of less than 2.5 is produced; and

b) subjecting the liquid phase filtrate to tangential microfiltration separation of solid and liquid phases on a ceramic membrane having a cutoff threshold of between 0.8 and 1.4 μm, whereby the corrected OD at 600 nm of the liquid phase of the microfiltration product containing the enzymes does not exceed 0.1,

wherein

the filtrate is recycled into the culture medium feeding the filter press in a proportion of at most 10% by weight,

both the separation on the filter press (step a)) and the microfiltration of the filtrate obtained at the end of the filter press (step b)) are carried out sequentially within a period of 0-30 h, inclusive, from halting the production step, and

the culture medium is not subjected to decanting and/or centrifugation before being separated on the filter press, and

wherein the overall yield of enzymes is at least 86%.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein said period from halting the production step is less than or equal to 24 h.

3. The process of claim 1 , wherein, at the end of the separation on the filter press, 5-10% by weight of solid and 90-95% by weight of filtrate are obtained.

4. The process of claim 1 , wherein a sample of the liquid phase filtrate resulting from the filter press is centrifuged at 4000 G for 5 minutes to produce a solid pellet and liquid, and wherein the pellet is less than 1.5% (percentage of the volume occupied by the solid relative to the total volume of the sample).

5. The process of claim 1 , wherein said filtrate resulting from the filter press is subjected to the microfiltration without prior cooling.

6. The process of claim 1 , wherein the separation on the filter press and the microfiltration are carried out at 20-30° C.

7. The process of claim 1 , wherein the liquid phase obtained after microfiltration is further subjected to ultrafiltration on a second ceramic membrane having a cutoff threshold of between 5 and 15 kDa.

8. The process of claim 1 , wherein the liquid phase obtained after microfiltration is further subjected to ultrafiltration, and wherein all three steps of separation on the filter press (step a)), microfiltration of the filtrate obtained at the end of the filter press (step b)), and ultrafiltration, are carried out sequentially within a period of 0-48 h, inclusive, from halting the production step.

9. The process of claim 1 , further comprising

contacting a lignocellulosic biomass that has been pretreated by steam explosion with the liquid phase of the microfiltration product containing the enzymes, whereby an enzymatic hydrolysis of the biomass produces soluble sugars, and

ethanolic fermentation of the soluble sugars,

wherein the enzymatic hydrolysis and the fermentation are carried out separately or simultaneously, and the ethanol produced is separated by distillation.

10. The process of claim 1 , wherein the enzymes comprise cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic enzymes.

11. The process of claim 1 , wherein the microfiltration of the filtrate obtained at the end of the filter press is carried out within a period of at most 24 h from halting the production step.

12. The process of claim 1 , wherein the separation on the filter press and the microfiltration are carried out at 22-27° C.

13. The process of claim 1 , wherein the liquid phase obtained after microfiltration is subjected to ultrafiltration within a period of at most 24 h from halting the production step.

14. A process for separating, from a culture medium, Trichoderma reesei fungus from enzymes produced in the culture medium by the fungus during a production step, comprising

a) subjecting said culture medium, within a period of 0-30 h, inclusive, from halting the production step, to a separation on a filter press lined with a fabric having a porosity of 3-20 μm, whereby a liquid phase filtrate containing the enzymes having a corrected optical density (OD) at 600 nm of less than 2.5 is produced; and

b) subjecting the liquid phase filtrate to tangential microfiltration on a ceramic membrane having a cutoff threshold of between 0.5 and 1.4 μm, whereby the corrected OD at 600 nm of the liquid phase of the microfiltration product containing the enzymes does not exceed 0.1, and has at least a 4.3 times higher protein concentration than the liquid phase of a microfiltration product obtained with an organic membrane having the same cutoff threshold, and

wherein the overall yield of enzymes is at least 86%.

15. The process of claim 7 , further comprising

contacting a lignocellulosic biomass that has been pretreated by steam explosion with the liquid phase of the ultrafiltration product containing the enzymes, whereby an enzymatic hydrolysis of the biomass produces soluble sugars, and

ethanolic fermentation of the soluble sugars,

wherein the enzymatic hydrolysis and the fermentation are carried out separately or simultaneously, and the ethanol produced is separated by distillation.