Influence of pretreatment of agriculture residues on phytase production by Aspergillus niger NCIM 563 under submerged fermentation conditions

The extracellular phytase production by Aspergillus niger NCIM 563 was evaluated in medium containing various agriculture residues under submerged fermentation conditions. Phytase productionwas affected by inorganic phosphate content of agriculture residues which ranged from 2.8 to 8 mg/g. The agriculture residues containing less than 4 mg/g inorganic phosphate supported phytaseproduction with maximum activity of 68 IU/ml in medium containing 1% rice bran on 11th day of fermentation. Addition of glucose up to 5% in fermentation medium containing 1% rice bran, enhancedphytase production. Pretreatment of agriculture residues with water to remove excess inorganic phosphate has significantly enhanced the phytase activity in case of de-oiled rice bran, wheat bran,peanut cake (low and high oil) and coconut cake. Maximum increase of 20.3 times in phytase activity was observed in case of wheat bran as compared to de-oiled rice bran, coconut cake, peanut cake highand low oil in which the increase in phytase activity was 6.85, 6.1, 5.3 and 3.0 times, respectively. Maximum phytase activity of 68 IU/ml was produced on the 11th day of fermentation compared to earlierreported 41.47 IU/ml phytase activity on the 15th day of submerged fermentation using 5% dextrin and 2.5% glucose, thus increasing productivity

Potential applications of bioprocess technology in petroleum industry

Petroleum refining is traditionally based on the use of physicochemical processes such as distillation and chemical catalysis that operate under high temperatures and pressures conditions, which are energy intensive and costly. Biotechnology has become an important tool for providing new approaches in petroleum industry during oil production, refining and processing as well as managing environmentally safe pollutant remediation and disposal practices. Earlier biotechnology applications in the petroleum industry were limited to microbial enhanced oil recovery, applications of bioremediation to contaminated marine shorelines, soils and sludges. The potential role of bioprocess technology in this industry has now expanded further into the areas of biorefining and upgrading of fuels, production of fine chemicals, control of souring during production and air VOC biofiltration. In this paper we provide an overview of the major applications of bioprocesses and technology development in the petroleum industry both in upstream and downstream areas and highlight future challenges and opportunities