Abstract
The activities of endo-polygalacturonase (endo-PG), exo-polygalacturonase (exo-PG), pectin lyase (PL), and pectin methylesterase (PE), produced by Aspergillus niger URM 4645, were studied in solid state fermentation (SSF) using yellow passion fruit peels as substrate. The effect of substrate amount, initial moisture content, and temperature on pectinase production was studied using a full factorial design (2³). Maximum endo-PG, exo-PG, PL, and PE activities were 31.35, 7.98, 551,299.39, and 447.93 U g −1 dry substrate, respectively. Optimum activities of the four enzymes were obtained with 5.0 g of the substrate and an initial moisture content of 30% at 34°C with 96 h of fermentation. Optimum endo-PG activity was found at pH 7.5 at an optimum temperature of 40°C; exo-PG and PL at pH 7.0 at an optimum temperature of 80°C; and PE at pH 3.5 at an optimum temperature of 30°C. Endo-PG was stable at pH 7.0 to 8.0 at 40°C, and exo-PG and PL at pH 6.0 to 8.0 and 6.0 to 7.5, respectively at 60 to 70°C. PE was stable at pH 3.5 to 5.0 at 30 to 60°C. The enzyme production optimization clearly demonstrated the impact of process parameters on the yield of pectinolytic enzymes. Keywords: Aspergillus niger , residue, pectinolytic activities, solid state fermentation, characterization. African Journal of Biotechnology , Vol 13(31) 3313-3322
Highlights
Passiflora edulis f. flavicarpa, commonly known as the yellow passion fruit, is cultivated on a large scale in Brazil and is of agronomic importance because of the use of its fruits in nature and in the juice industry
Conversion of pectin to soluble sugars is possible through enzymatic reactions catalyzed by pectinolytic enzymes that are common in fungi, such as pectin lyase (PL) (EC 4.2.1.10), pectin methylesterase (PE) (EC 3.2.1.11), and polygalacturonases (PG)
This allows for the characterization and selection of fungal strains with optimum enzyme production
Summary
Passiflora edulis f. flavicarpa, commonly known as the yellow passion fruit, is cultivated on a large scale in Brazil and is of agronomic importance because of the use of its fruits in nature and in the juice industry. Flavicarpa, commonly known as the yellow passion fruit, is cultivated on a large scale in Brazil and is of agronomic importance because of the use of its fruits in nature and in the juice industry. Resulting from passion fruit processing consists of more than 75% of the raw material. The rind constitutes 90% of the waste product and is a source of pectin (20% of dry weight) (Arvanitoyannis and Varzakas, 2008). Pectinases or pectinolytic enzymes are naturally produced by plants, filamentous fungi, bacteria, and yeasts (Maciel et al, 2013). Conversion of pectin to soluble sugars is possible through enzymatic reactions catalyzed by pectinolytic enzymes that are common in fungi, such as pectin lyase (PL) (EC 4.2.1.10), pectin methylesterase (PE) (EC 3.2.1.11), and polygalacturonases (PG)
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