African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 5 (20), pp. 1882-1885, 16 October 2006   

ISSN 1684–5315 © 2006 Academic Journals        

Full Length Research Paper

Enhanced production of cellulases by various fungal cultures in solid state fermentation of cassava waste

C. Pothiraj¹*, P. Balaji² and M. Eyini²

PG Department of Microbiology, V.H.N.S.N. College, Virudhunagar-626 001, India.

*Research Centre in Botany, Thiagarajar College (Autonomous), Madurai-625 009, India.

*Corresponding authors E-mail: pothi2005@yahoo.com. 

Accepted 27 February, 2006

Cellulases are a group of hydrolytic enzymes capable of degrading cellulose to the smaller glucose units. These enzymes are produced by fungi and bacteria.  The solid waste of sago industry using cassava tubers was fermented by Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus terreus and Rhizopus stolonifer in solid state fermentation. The cassava waste contained dry wt of 13.4% cellulose and 2.9% protein by dry weight. The highest cellulase activity was observed on the 10^th day in R. stolonifer mediated fermentation. R. stolonifer was more efficient in bioconverting cassava waste into fungal protein (9%) compared to A. niger and A. terreus.

Key words: Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus terreus, Rhizopus stolonifer, cellulase, solid state fermentation, cassava waste.