PRODUCTION OF CELLULASE USING MESOPHILLIC YEAST

ABSTRACT

In recent years the interest in the production of cellulases has increased due to several potential applications, such as bioenergy and biofuels, as well as applications in the textile and paper industries. This study was conducted to find the most suitable substrate for the production of cellulase using mesophilic yeast. Cellulase-producing mesophilic yeast was isolated from soil samples collected from the agro-waste dump site and identified as Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans. Isolates were screened for cellulase producing activity and organism with the highest cellulase production capacity was used for further analysis. The organism (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) was inoculated into each substrate medium and incubated at 27 0C over the course of 10 days. pH, viable cell count and cellulase concentration was determined in two days interval. pH was determined using pH meter, viable cell count was determined using pour plate method, while the cellulase concentration was determined using DNS method. In this research. it was observed that enzyme activity gradually increased as the pH and viable cell count increases. At cellulase peak production day (day 6), the highest cellulase concentration was obtained with concorb medium as 0.889±0.008gL-1 with a pH of 5.75±0.07 and viable cell count of 1.015±0.021cfu/ml. While the least cellulase concentration 0.388±0.011cfu/ml was obtained with orange peel waste medium at day 6, with viable cell count of 0.545±0.049 cfu/ml and pH of 5.05±0.07. The results of this experiment indicate that corncob waste is the optimal substrate for cellulase synthesis using Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Consequently, the environment's agrowaste's recalcitrance can be reduced by valorizing it, specifically into cellulase.