Abstract
This study aims to produce a mix of enzymes through Solid State Fermentation (SSF) of raw materials. Four different, easily available, agro-industrial wastes were evaluated as SSF substrates for enzymes production by Cryphonectria parasitica (Murr.) Barr. environmental strains named CpA, CpB2, CpC4, and CpC7. Among the tested wastes, organic wheat bran for human use and wheat bran for animal feed better supports C. parasitica growth and protease production without any supplements. SDS-PAGE analyses highlighted the presence of three bands corresponding to an extracellular laccase (77 kDa), to the endothiapepsin (37 kDa), and to a carboxylesterase (60.6 kDa). Protease, laccase, and esterase activities by C. parasitica in SSF were evaluated for 15 days, showing the maximum protease activity at day 9 (3955.6 AU/gsf,). Conversely, the best laccase and esterase production was achieved after 15 days. The C. parasitica hypovirulent CpC4 strain showed the highest laccase and esterase activity (93.8 AU/gsf and 2.5 U/gsf, respectively). These results suggest the feasibility of a large-scale production of industrially relevant enzymes by C. parasitica strains in SSF process on low value materials.
Highlights
A key theme in sustainable development is the requirement of appropriate waste management (UNEP, 2011; UNHSP, 2010), based on the notion that waste can be a resource [1,2]
Laccases are polyphenol oxidases involved in biopulping and bioleaching, denim washing, textile dye decolorization, and wastewater treatment [9,10] and esterases and lipases are used in many industrial applications, such as for detergents [11,12]
C. parasitica has been shown to produce and secrete a number of hydrolytic enzymes, including laccase [31], cellulase [28], polygalacturonase [49], cutinase [29], and tannase [30]. All of these enzymes are normally produced in liquid cultures, to the best of our knowledge; C. parasitica has never been cultivated in Solid State Fermentation (SSF) regime so far
Summary
A key theme in sustainable development is the requirement of appropriate waste management (UNEP, 2011; UNHSP, 2010), based on the notion that waste can be a resource [1,2]. One attractive valorization of agro-food wastes is their application in bio-refinery processes as substrates for microbial growth to produce various commodity chemicals and industrial enzymes [5,6,7]. The industrial importance of enzymes as biological catalysts ranges from the food industry to paper, pulp, and detergent treatments. 60% of the global market is covered by proteases, with applications in detergents, leather processing, food and feed processing, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and waste treatment [8]. Enzymes are relatively expensive reagents: around 30–40% of their production cost is accounted for by the fermentation substrate that could be greatly reduced by using low-cost substrates such as agro-food residues [13]
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