Abstract
Soil samples were collected from ten different locations of Sathuragiri Hills (Western Ghats, Tamilnadu). Percentage frequency of occurrence of fungal isolates was calculated. Cultural characteristics of fungal isolates on Sabouraud's dextrose agar were observed. Fungal isolates were identified based on morphology, cultural characteristics and 18S rRNA sequencing. Citric acid production ability of fungal isolates was screened. Among the isolates Aspergillus niger found to produce the highest quantity of citric acid (2.5 ± 0.01 g/L) and it is selected for further work.
Highlights
Citric acid is an intermediate of tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle which is obtained when carbohydrates are oxidized to carbon dioxide
Chinnapasu-kidai sampling area had the least amount of fungal count of about 1.2×104 (Table 1)
Aspergillus niger found to produce the highest quantity of citric acid (2.2 ± 0.001 g/L), followed by Aspergillus flavus (1.32 ± 0.01 g/L), Penicillium sp (1.28 ± 0.06 g/L), Helminthosporium sp. (1.22 ± 0.02 g/L)
Summary
Citric acid (C6H8O7, 2–hydroxy–1,2,3–propane tricarboxylic acid), a natural constituent and common metabolite of plants and animals, is the most versatile and widely used organic acid in the field of food (70%) and pharmaceuticals (12%). It has got several other applications in various other fields. Citric acid is an intermediate of tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle which is obtained when carbohydrates are oxidized to carbon dioxide. It has three carboxylic acid functional groups with three pKa values at pH 3.1, 4.7 and 6.4. It is a ubiquitous intermediate product of metabolism and its traces are found virtually in all plants and animals [3]
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