Sugarcane bagasse as a source of carbon for enzyme production by filamentous fungi1

ABSTRACT The aim of the present work was to assess the enzymatic activity of six strains of filamentous fungi grown in liquid media containing 1% sugarcane bagasse as the sole carbon source. All fungal strains were able to use this agro-industrial residue, producing various types of enzymes, such as cellulases, xylanases, amylases, pectinases, and laccases. However, Aspergillus japonicus Saito was the most efficient producer, showing the highest enzymatic activity for laccase (395.73 U L-1), endo-β-1,4-xylanase (3.55 U mL-1) and β-xylosidase (9.74 U mL-1) at seven, fourteen and twenty-one days in culture, respectively. Furthermore, the endo-β-1,4-xylanases and β-xylosidases of A. japonicus showed maximum activity at 50°C, and pH 5.5 and pH 3.5-4.5, respectively. Thus, these results indicate that A. japonicus has a great biotechnological potential for the production of these enzymes using sugarcane bagasse as the sole source of carbon.