Cellulase Production using Fungi Grown on Sawdust

Authors: Oshoma CE, Emeka-Ifebi AE, Ahmed El-Imam A

DOI Info: N/A

ABSTRACT

Agricultural wastes composed mainly of lignocellulosic biomass are mostly abundant materials in the environment and can be utilized to produce valuable products such as enzymes. The influence of pretreatment on sawdust media for cellulase production by fungi and the effect of varied pH were investigated in this study. The pretreatment methods used before fermentation of the media were thermal (using heat) and alkaline (using sodium hydroxide (NaOH)). The parameters analyzed were pH, fungal biomass and cellulase activity. The identified fungal isolates from sawdust with the highest zone of hydrolysis were Penicillium chrysogenum and Trichoderma harzianum. From the results, the highest fungal biomass and cellulase activity of 0.26±0.01 mg/g and 2.35±0.04 U/g respectively after 8 days, were obtained from the heat pretreated sawdust medium inoculated with Penicillium chrysogenum (HSPc). The least biomass and cellulase activity of 0.07±0.01 mg/g and 0.36±0.07 U/g were from the without sawdust (control) medium inoculated with Trichoderma harzianum (WSTh). Fungal growth and cellulase activity for HSPc were statistically significant when compared to other media (p < 0.05) after 8 days of fermentation. Thus, the study revealed that sawdust as a waste could be utilized as a promising substrate for the production of cellulase and yield can be enhanced using heat pretreatment.

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