Laccase from Trametes hirsuta Grown on Paper Cuttings: Application to Synthetic Dye Decolorization at Different pH Values

Abstract The potential of paper cuttings to produce laccase from Trametes hirsuta grown under solid‐state conditions was investigated. In addition, cultures were also grown on barley bran, a support commonly used in solid‐state fermentation (SSF), for comparison. Paper cutting cultures showed a maximum individual laccase activity of 7695 U/L on day 9. In addition, the ability to decolorize two structurally different dyes (Indigo Carmine and Lissamine Green B) by the extracellular liquid from both paper and barley bran cultures at pH values between 2 and 11 was analyzed. Laccase‐containing enzyme preparations from both cultures decolorized the dyes tested at pH values between 4 and 7 and, in addition, the laccase‐containing enzyme preparation from paper cutting cultures was also able to decolorize the dyes tested at alkaline pH values. This is a very interesting and novel result, since no decolorization by fungal laccases has been reported until recently at pH values higher than pH 7.