Agricultural residues for cellulolytic enzyme production by Aspergillus niger: effects of pretreatment.
Different agricultural residues were considered in this study for their ability to support cellulolytic enzyme production by Aspergillus niger. A total of eleven agricultural residues including finger millet hulls, sorghum hulls, soybean hulls, groundnut husk, banana peels, corn stalk, cassava peels, sugarcane bagasse, saw dust, rice straw and sheanut cake were subjected to three pretreatment (acid, alkali and oxidative) methods. All the residues supported the growth and production of cellulases by A. niger after 96 h of incubation. Maximum cellulase production was found in alkali-treated soybean hulls with CMCase, FPase and β-glucosidase yields of 9.91 ± 0.04, 6.20 ± 0.13 and 5.69 ± 0.29 U/g, respectively. Further studies in assessing the potential of soybean hulls are being considered to optimize the medium composition and process parameters for enhanced cellulase production.
Department of Biochemistry, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Zaria, Nigeria. aliyu.salihu@gmail.com.
Aliyu
A
Salihu
Department of Biochemistry, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Zaria, Nigeria.
Olagunju
O
Abbas
Department of Biochemistry, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Zaria, Nigeria.
Abdullahi Balarabe
AB
Sallau
Department of Biotechnology Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Bioenvironmental Engineering Research Centre (BERC), International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Gombak, 50728, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Md Zahangir
MZ
Alam
Agricultural residues; Aspergillus niger; Cellulase; Pretreatment