Evaluation of different pretreatments to enhance degradation of pine needles by <i>Aspergillus niger </i>F₇ under solid state fermentation

Abstract

This study presents degradation enhancement of pine needles by <i>Aspergillus niger </i>F₇, isolated from soil. A modified alkali pretreatment [NaOH+H₂O₂ (1M); ratio, 9:1] is found the best among all methods when needles are soaked in this solution for 2 h followed by thorough washing with tap water. Degradation of pine biomass was measured in terms of enzyme (cellulase & xylanase) production, biodegradation index (BI) and hydrolysis (%). There are high enzyme units, BI and hydrolysis (%) in pretreated material as compared to untreated one.