Novel natural supplement for the production of fungal cellulases and application for enzymatic saccharification of wheat straw

Abstract

The cost effective production of cellulolytic enzymes and their use for generating higher reducing sugars from lignocellulosic biomass is critical for attaining the commercial viability of lignocellulosic biofuels production. Optimizing the use of locally available agroresidues and natural nutritional alternatives for fungal growth and enzyme production can reduce the cost of enzyme production. In the present work, maximum cellulolytic activity of 30.85 IU/gds was obtained from Trichoderma reesei NCIM 1186 using wheat bran as the substrate and coconut water as the nutritional supplement. The produced cellualse was used for enzymatic saccharification of phosphoric acid pretreated wheat straw. The enzymatic sachharification was optimized through central composite design (CCD) based response surface methodology (RSM). Maximum reducing sugar yields of 371.44 mg/g dry substrate were obtained at 18% (w/v) substrate concentration, 50°C and 24 h of incubation time. Further, the saccharified sugar hydrolysate was fermented using S. cerevisiae NCIM 3215. Maximum ethanol production (2.58% w/v) obtained after 24 h of fermentation at 30°C. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 34: 1243–1248, 2015