CRUDE CELLULASES FROM SUBTERRANEAN TERMITE EXTRACT (Macrotermes gilvus Hagen) FOR SACCHARIFICATION OF LEAF LITTER AND BIOSOFTENING PROCESS IN SKELETON LEAF CRAFTS MAKING

Abstract

Recently, leaf litter has been used as compost or piled up and burned openly in most regions of Indonesia. This litter has the potential for its lignocellulosic components as the source of sugars. Also, the leave skeleton structure is promising for creative industrial purposes. Besides, termites (Macrotermes gilvus Hagen) can digest lignocellulosic biomass containing high fiber. In this research, termite extract contained lignocellulases and was used in the leaf litter pretreatment process for sugar preparation and leaf litter biosoftening. This study aimed to extract termite enzymes, identify, evaluate the activity of crude enzymes, and characterize the hydrolytic ability of enzymes to degrade lignocellulosic materials in three different leaf litters, i.e., Polyalthia longifolia (PL), Pterocarpus indicus (PI), and Filicium decipiens (FD). The leaf litter biosoftening process was performed in pulp removal for Annona muricata (AM) skeleton leaf crafts making. The results showed that M. gilvus Hagen extract exhibited high activity of endo-β-D-1,4-glucanase (CMCase), moderate activity of avicelase, β-D-1,4-mannanase, β-D-1,4-xylanase, and low β-D-1,4-glucosidase. The optimum pH of CMCase, β-D-1,4-mannanase, and β-D-1,4-glucosidase were 6.5, 5.0, and 6.0, respectively, while the optimum temperatures were 40 °C, 50 °C, and 55 °C, respectively. Cellulases from termite extracts were suitable pretreatment of leaf litter biomass, as evidenced by saccharification activity, with the highest saccharification activity in FD leaf litter. Enzymes were also successfully employed to help remove AM leaf pulp at the volume of 100 mL for 14 days, with the removal efficiency at 98.7%.