Biological Degradation Of Cellulase

Summary

The purpose of this study is to utilize cellulosic wastes such as office wastes and sugarcane baggase as substrate for cellulase production via Solid State Fermentation (SSF). Biological degradation approach will be applied whereby Trichoderma reesei and Aspergillus niger are used to degrade these lignocellulosic materials to produce cellulase enzyme. Cellulase is an important enzyme that degrades cellulose. Besides that, cellulase also has potential applications in numerous industries such as pulp and paper, textile, food production and also biofuel production. By using waste materials to produce cellulase, environmental pollutions that they have caused could be decreased by channeling to a beneficial cause. Along with that, the increasing

Globally, cellulase are produced and used commercially in several industries like fermentation, agriculture, pulp and paper and also food production. Enzymes are the catalyst of chemical reactions which works by lowering the activation energy and speed up the reaction. Cellulase is responsible for converting cellulose into fermentable sugars through enzymatic hydrolysis. This enzyme is synthesized by microorganisms like fungi and bacteria when they grow on cellulosic materials (Kuhad et al., 2011). A. niger and T. reesei are both common producer of this type of

The process involves utilization of natural substrate or inert substrate as the solid support (Bhargav et al., 2008). Compared to submerged fermentation, enzyme product via SSF is increased by 30-80% (Sharada et al., 2013). SSF is cost effective, less time consuming, little amount of waste with high volumetric productivity and better yield compared to submerged fermentation (Bhargav et al., 2008). SSF is best when fungi are used. The presence of turgid pressure at the tip of the mycelium of filamentous fungi like A. niger and T. reesei enable them to penetrate through the hard surface of the substrates. The fact is fungi usually grow on solid substrate with low moisture such as woods, seeds, bones and skins of animals (Bhargav et al.,