Corn silage, its water unextractable solids (WUS) and enzyme recalcitrant solids (ErCS) and an industrial corn silage-based anaerobic fermentation residue (APR) represent corn substrates with different levels of recalcitrance. Compositional analysis reveals different levels of arabinoxylan substitution for WUS, ErCS and APR, being most pronounced regarding acetic acid, glucuronic acid- and arabinose content. By screening for enzymatic degradation of WUS, ErCS and APR, enzyme preparations exhibiting high conversion rates were identified. Furthermore significant synergistic effects were detected by blending Aspergillus niger/Talaromyces emersonii culture filtrates with various enzymes. These findings clearly highlight a necessity for a combinatorial use of enzyme preparations towards substrates with high recalcitrance characteristics to reach high degrees of degradation. Enzyme blends were identified, outperforming the individual commercial preparations. These enzyme preparations provide a basis for new, designed enzyme mixtures for corn polysaccharide degradation as a source of necessary, accessory enzyme activities. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.