Application of statistical tool for optimization of physical parameters for cellulase production under solid state fermentation

Abstract

Cellulase production by isolated <em>Aspergillus </em>sp. was carried out under solid state fermentation (SSF) using banana peel based medium, one of the abundantly available lignocellulosic horticultural wastes in tropical and subtropical countries. Response surface methodology (RSM) involving Box&ndash;Behnken design was employed for optimizing production of cellulase. The interactions among various fermentation parameters viz. hydration ratio, amount of substrate for fermentation, time and temperature of fermentation, were investigated and modeled. The predicted carboxymethyl cellulase (CMCase) activity and biomass under optimized parameters was 65.11 U/gds and 95.33 mg/gds, respectively whereas the validated CMCase activity was 65.22 U/gds and biomass was found to be 96 mg/gds. The results showed that the responses of CMCase and biomass were significantly affected by the quadratic term of hydration ratio, substrate amount, time and temperature of fermentation and the statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated good correlation of experimental parameters selected.