Utilization of Industrial Waste for the Production of Cellulase by the Cultivation of Trichoderma via Solid State Fermentation

The present study deals with the cultivation of Trichoderma sp. for the production of cellulase in lignocellulosic materials. The highest cellulase activity was determined under optimal conditions of pH (5.0), incubation temperature (30 °C), inocula concentration (2 x 108 spores mL-1) and particle size (500 μm). Maximum activity for raw palm kernel cake (PKC), defatted PKC, and vegetable waste (VW) substrates were achieved as 6.9 FPU g−1, 16.1 FPU g−1 and 50.1 FPU g−1 correspondingly. It was observed that defatted PKC served as a better substrate than raw PKC for cellulase activity. A comparative study for the production of enzymes via solid state fermentation (SSF) indicated that cellulase activity produced by Trichoderma was about 1-fold higher in PKCs. However, Bacillus cereus scored 2-folds higher activity than VW substrates. On the basis of the significant yield of cellulase activity, palm oil industry wastes can be successfully used for the production of cellulase. Thus, environmental pollution can be controlled by utilizing palm oil industrial wastes to generate value-added product (cellulase).