Abstract

Saccharum spontaneum, a wasteland weed, is utilized for cellulase production byAspergillus terreus in solid state fermentation. S. spontaneum served as good carbon source and solid support. Various process parameters including optimal nitrogen source, initial moisture level, incubation time, initial pH, incubation temperature and inoculum size were evaluated. The maximum cellulase production was attained at 70% of initial moisture with incubation of 96 h at 30±2°C, and pH 4.5. Ammonium sulphate in concentration of 0.2% (w/w) was the most preferable nitrogen source among all tested nitrogen sources. The results indicate that S. spontaneum could beutilized as a substrate in solid state fermentation (SSF) for economic production of cellulase.

Key words: Cellulase, solid state fermentation, Saccharum spontaneum, Aspergillus terreus.