Cellulase production with sugarcane straw by Trichoderma citrinoviride on solid bed

A locally soil-isolated strain of Trichoderma citrinoviride produced cellulase activity levels quite similar to the overproducing mutant T. reeSei (T. longibrachiatum) QM 9414 when grown in homogeneous cultures containing sugarcane straw. It was confirmed than the crude enzymatic extracts (filter paper enzyme, carboxymethylcellulase and s-glucosidase) have similar traits to the reference strain. Both strains utilized more efficiently the ground substrate in relation to other pre-treatments assayed. Kinetics of growth in solid beds containing sugarcane straw showed than the fermentation stopped around 96–120 hours, obtaining the highest enzyme production (filter paper enzyme: 16 U/g ), and released a minimum of residual sugar (glucose and xylose, 5.032 mg/g1 ). The final product is characterized by a reduction in fibre content of the substrate (40.4 %) and an increase in cell protein (6.2 - 7.9 %).