Assessment and evaluation of cellulase production using ragi (Eleusine coracana) husk as a substrate from thermo-acidophilic Aspergillus fumigatus JCM 10253

• Published in: Bioprocess and biosystems engineering 2021, Vol.44 (1), p.113-126
• Main Authors: Saroj, Paramjeet, P, Manasa, Narasimhulu, Korrapati
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural wastes; Aspergillus fumigatus; Biofuels; Biotechnology; Cellobiase; Cellulase; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Eleusine coracana coracana; Environmental Engineering/Biotechnology; Ethanol; Fermentation; Food Science; Fourier transforms; Fungi; Glucosidase; Industrial and Production Engineering; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Industrial products; Industrial wastes; Infrared spectroscopy; Lignocellulose; Microorganisms; Morphology; pH effects; Process parameters; Process variables; Research Paper; Response surface methodology; Scanning electron microscopy; Substrates; β-Glucosidase
• ISSN: 1615-7591; 1615-7605
• DOI: 10.1007/s00449-020-02428-z

The cellulase production by filamentous fungi Aspergillus fumigatus JCM 10253 was carried out using agro-industrial waste ragi husk as a substrate in the microbial fermentation. The effect of the process parameters such as temperature, substrate concentration, pH, and incubation process time and their interdependence was studied using response surface methodology. The optimum cellulase activities were obtained at 50 °C under the conditions with 1–2% of substrate concentration at pH 2–4 for the incubation period of 7–8 days. The maximum carboxymethyl cellulase (CMCase) and β-glucosidase activities with optimized process variables were 95.2 IU/mL and 0.174 IU/mL, respectively. The morphological characterization of fungus by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) revealed the presence of secondary protein structures. Furthermore, this study demonstrated that the application of ragi husk could be a promising feedstock for value-added industrial products. The thermo-acidophilic nature of isolated strain Aspergillus fumigatus JCM 10253 possessed a significant potential for higher titer of cellulase production that could be further employed for lignocellulosic bioethanol production.