title: Water hyacinth as carbon source for the production of cellulase by Trichoderma reesei.
abstract: Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), an aquatic weed common to the subtropic/tropical regions, was utilized as an inexpensive lignocellulosic substrate for production of cellulase by Trichoderma reesei. The effects of process parameters like substrate pretreatment, substrate concentration, initial medium pH, mode of inoculation, and incubation temperature on cellulase production were investigated. Under optimal conditions, a maximal cellulase activity of 0.22 +/- 0.04 IU/ml (approximately 73.3 IU/g cellulose) was recorded at the end of 15-day incubation period. Specific activity of the enzyme was 6.25 IU/mg protein. Hydrolysis of 1% substrate (water hyacinth) using crude enzyme dosage of 1.2 IU/g water hyacinth showed 28.7% saccharification in 1 h. The observations in present study indicate that saccharification of cellulose from water hyacinth was significantly higher by laboratory-produced cellulase than the commercial blend.
authors.affiliation: Biotechnology Department, SIES-Indian Institute of Environment Management, Sri Chadrasekarendra Saraswati Vidyapuram, Sector V, Nerul, Navi Mumbai 400 706, India.
authors.forename: Pradnya
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Deshpande
authors.forename: Sajitha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nair
authors.forename: Shubhangi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khedkar
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism*; D002480:Cellulase / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D002482:Cellulose / Q000378:metabolism; D031806:Eichhornia / Q000378:metabolism*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D006868:Hydrolysis; D007700:Kinetics; D012037:Refuse Disposal; D013379:Substrate Specificity; D014242:Trichoderma / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D002244:Carbon; D002482:Cellulose; D002480:Cellulase