Exo-polygalacturonase production by Penicillium roqueforti on pumpkin oil cake in solid state fermentation

The feasibility of using pumpkin oil cake (PuOC), individual and in combination with wheat bran (WB), as substrate for the production of Exo-polygalacturonase (Exo-p) by starter culture Penicillium roqueforti in solid state fermentation (SSF) has been evaluated. The kinetics of enzyme production was investigated using PuOC alone in the range from 13 to 168 h, with moisture contents varying from 44% the ability to grow and produce Exo-p activity on this substrate, reaching a maximum value of 1451.75 U/g.d.w PuOC by the 5th day of fermentation. Fermentation experiments indicated that the water activity (aw) influenced the enzyme production. A medium with aw 0.932 and the fermentation time of 5 days were selected, as these conditions resulted in the highest pectolytic activity and were used for further investigation. A next step in this research was to examine the effect of the substrate combination, PuOC with wheat bran (WB), in different ratios. The addition of WB as carbon sources was found to have a significant influence on the enzymes yields. Exo-p activities were the highest with initial water activity of a w 0.932 and PuOC supplementation with WB (1:0.67)

Production of exo-pectinase by Penicillium roqueorti using pumpkin oil cake

Submerged fermentation (SmF) was carried out using the pumpkin oil cake (PuOC) as a substrate for the production of exo-pectinase (exo-p) by Penicillium roqueforti. PuOC was used as carbon, nitrogen and mineral source for fungi growth and exo-p production. SmF was carried out in the production medium containing 0.2% KH2PO4, 0.1% MgSO4 and 0.1% NaCl, supplemented with PuOC at 2% concentration. The obtained results show that P. roqueforti cultivated in a liquid medium in the presence of PuOC as a source of nitrogen, produced significant amount of exo-p, activity 161.03 U/ml