Solid State Fermentation of Aspergillus oryzae for Glucoamylase Production on Agro residues

Glucoamylase is a well recognized amylolytic enzyme used in food industry, which is generally produced by Aspergillus genus under solid-state fermentation (SSF). This study presents production of glucoamylase by Aspergillus oryzae on the solid surface of rice husk, wheat bran, rice bran, cotton seed powder, corn steep solids, bagasse powder, coconut oil cake, and groundnut oil cake as substrates. Optimization of the SSF media and parameters resulted in a 24% increase in the glucoamylase activity. Optimum glucoamylase production (1986 μmoles of glucose produced per minute per gram of dry fermented substrate) was observed on wheat bran supplemented with 1%, (w/w) starch, 0.25%, (w/w) urea at pH 6, 100%, (v/w) initial moisture and 30°C after incubation 120 hrs. Therefore, A. oryzae can be useful in bioprocessing application for saccharification of agro-residues. Keywords: Glucoamylase, Aspergillus oryzae, solid state fermentation, agro residues DOI: 10.3126/ijls.v4i0.2892 International Journal of Life Sciences Vol.4 2010 pp.16-25