Production of Cellulase Enzymes by Phlebiopsis sp. Cultured on Untreated and Pretreated Sugarcane Bagasse, Maize Cobs, and Rice Husks

Clean energy from renewable and dependable sources is in great demand around the world. Cellulose is one of the most ubiquitous organic components often broken down by cellulase to produce biofuels. Fungi that reside in the environment can be used to produce cellulase enzymes.

This study focused on the isolation, identification, and characterization of Phlebiopsis sp. from a decaying tree trunk and exploring untreated and pretreated maize cobs, sugarcane bagasse, and rice husks as substrates for cellulase production under solid state fermentation in sterilized bottles at 24°C room temperature in a dark place. The crude enzyme collected after fermentation was used to carry out total cellulase (FPase), exoglucanase, endoglucanase, and β-glucosidase activities.

For the untreated substrates, Phlebiopsis sp. produced the highest endoglucanase when cultured on sugarcane bagasse at 74.3±0.27 IU/mL. Pretreatment of maize cobs with 0.25M NaOH resulted in the highest exoglucanase and endoglucanase activity by Phlebiopsis sp. at 6.17±0.04 IU/mL and 25.1±0.61 IU/mL, respectively. The overall results showed that untreated substrates produced a higher cellulase activity than pre-treated substrates except for β- β-glucosidase activity. The yielded β-glucosidase activity by Phlebiopsis sp. was the highest when maize cobs were pretreated with hot water at 118 ± 0.42 IU/mL and HCL at 118 ± 0.44 Ul/mL.

This study reveals that Phlebiopsis sp. is a cellulose-degrading fungus that can be used for cellulase enzyme production. Moreover, maize cobs and sugarcane bagasse are good carbon sources for cellulase enzyme production but further analysis should be done on the appropriate pretreatment methods to be used to increase cellulase production.