Abstract

Sugar cane waste was used as substrates for the production of cellulase enzyme usingAspergillus niger and Tricoderm aviride. From the fermentation studies, sugar cane waste gave the best result with an enzyme activity value of (using A. niger and T. aviride) 2.7 and 2.6 IU/ml respectively. It gave the maximum enzyme activity at about the 10 days of cultivation, suggesting that is the optimum time when the enzyme may be harvested. The fermentation experiments were performed in solid stat fermentation (SSF). Incubation time and initial pH of fermentation medium watts optimized with simultaneous mixed culture. It was revealed that the sugar cane waste at pH = 4.5 and 40°C A. niger (37°C for T. viride) was the best source of carbon for the enhanced production of cellulase in the compatible culture experiments. Based on the reported results, it may be concluded that sugar cane waste can be a potential substrate for production of cellulase, incorporation of culturing A. niger or T. viride. The aim of this work is to produce cellulase from sugar cane waste and reduce the pollution.

Key words: Aspergillus niger, cellulase, culture, sugar cane waste.