Peach-palm (Bactris gasipaes Kunth.) waste as substrate for xylanase production by Trichoderma stromaticum AM7

ABSTRACTThis work investigated the xylanase production by fungi isolates from tropical agroforestry systems using peach-palm industrial waste as a substrate. Trichoderma stromaticum AM7 was the best xylanase producer and there was a 160% increase in xylanase activity after optimizing by the Box–Behnken statistical design. The optimization process demonstrated that the maximum activity occurred at 0.95% nitrogen concentration after 6 days of cultivation at 32°C, which achieved a yield of 1440 U g−1 of dry initial substrate. Analysis by scanning electron microscopy showed degradation of the fibers after cultivation. The optimum pH and temperature for xylanase activity were 5.0 and 50°C, respectively. The extensive degradation of the peach-palm waste and xylanase production by T. stromaticum AM7 was due to the combination of a good physicochemical composition of the culture medium and the characteristics of the selected fungus.