Water Hyacinth as Carbon Source for the Production of Cellulase by Trichoderma reesei

• Published in: Applied biochemistry and biotechnology 2009-09, Vol.158 (3), p.552-560
• Main Authors: Deshpande, Pradnya, Nair, Sajitha, Khedkar, Shubhangi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aquatic plants; Aquatic weeds; Biochemistry; Biological and medical sciences; Biotechnology; carbon; Carbon - metabolism; Carbon sources; Cellulase - biosynthesis; cellulases; Cellulose; Cellulose - metabolism; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Eichhornia - metabolism; Eichhornia crassipes; enzyme activity; Enzymes; Floating plants; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Hydrolysis; Hypocrea jecorina; inoculation methods; Kinetics; lignocellulose; Refuse Disposal; saccharification; Substrate Specificity; Substrates; Trichoderma - metabolism; Tropical environments; tropics
• ISSN: 0273-2289; 1559-0291
• DOI: 10.1007/s12010-008-8476-9

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.