Abstract

In this investigation, glucose was produced from rice straw using cells ofAspergillus niger, isolated from maize grain. Glucose yield was found to increase from 43 to 87% as the rice straw particle size decreased from 425 to 75 µm, while the optimal temperature and pH were found within the range of 45 - 50°C and 4.5 - 5 respectively. The concentration and rate of glucose production was observed to depend on pretreatment of rice straw, substrate concentration and cell loading.A kinetic model rate expression has been developed for such a process based on the Michaelis – Mentens and Lineweaver – Burk approach. Comparison between the experimental data and those predicted from the rate model indicate good agreement with a mean absolute deviation of about 0.2.

Key words: Rice straw, cellulose, glucose, Aspergillus niger, enzyme loading, kinetic parameters, kinetic model.