CELLULASE PRODUCTION FROM MONO-CULTURE AND CO-CULTURE OF INDIGENOUS FUNGI DURING SOLID STATE FERMENTATION OF GROUNDNUT SHELL BIOMASS.

Abstract

The use of cellulolytic enzymes has over the years attracted considerable interest as a means for the production of value-added products from cellulose containing materials in the environment. Fungi were isolated from decaying groundnut shell and subjected to cellulolytic screening on modified Czapek-Dox agar supplemented with 1% carboxymethyl cellulose. Four out of the five isolates screened gave highest zones of clearance and were identified as Fusarium oxysporum(B1), Fusarium sp (B2), Aspergillus flavus(D2), Trichoderma harzianum (D3). These four fungi were selected on the basis of performance as screened. Assaying for fungal cellulase enzymes among the single isolates (mono-culture), Aspergillus flavus had the highest cellulase (FPase) activity of 2.424 FPU/ml after the 4th day of solid state fermentation (SSF) of the pretreated groundnut shell while Trichoderma harzianum gave an enzyme activity optimum of 2.312 FPU/ml after the 5th day of SSF. In the mixed fungal cultures, the co-cultures B₁D₃ gave the highest enzyme activity of 7.206 FPU/ml after the 3rd day of fermentation while B₂D₂ had an activity optimum of 5.402 FPU/ml after the 4th day of fermentation. For mixed culture B₂D₃, an optimum activity of 5.012 FPU/ml was obtained after the 3rd day of SSF, while co-culture D₂D₃ had enzyme activity optimum of 4.450 FPU/ml after the 4th day of fermentation. However, a consortium of all the isolates applied in the fermentation gave a maximum cellulase activity yield of 6.982 FPU/ml after the 3rd of SSF respectively.