Fungi based valorization of wheat straw and rice straw for cellulase and xylanase production

Abstract

A total of 29 fungal species were isolated from different ecological habitats of Jammu region and screened for cellulase and xylanase production. The potent fungal species were identified as Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus terreus, Ramichloridium apiculatum, Fusarium pallidoroseum and were compared with the commercially available strains. Out of these, A. flavus and A. terreus exhibit significant cellulolytic and xylanolytic activities on alkali pretreated wheat straw. R. apiculatum was first time reported for cellulolytic and xylanolytic activities in the present study. The maximum xylanolytic activity was shown by A. flavus ITCC 11854.23 as 4.68 U/ml when utilizing alkali treated rice straw. In this investigation, the enzymatic activities of the isolated strains out performed the commercial strains. This study provides a baseline to extract enzymes from these potential fungal species on utilizing low-cost substrates to make the industrial processes more economic and sustainable.