Assessing the impact of ligninolytic enzyme production by galactomyces geotrichum in solid-state fermentation utilizing oil palm empty fruit bunch

Oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) is a prominent agricultural waste in Malaysia, with an annual production exceeding 18 million tons. Despite its vast abundance, the utilization of OPEFB and oil palm waste, in general, remains limited. This study therefore evaluates the significant impact of OPEFB as avital bioresource within the Biorefinery sector, particularly for biofuel and biochemical production. The study focused on assessing the enzymatic activity in evolved lignin and cellulose degradation, which are critical processes in biomass conversion. To achieve this, solid-state fermentation (SSF) was conducted in flasks using OPEFB fibre’s (with an average length of 250mm) at a moisture content of 70% and a temperature of 30°C, for a time span of for 30-days. The result revealed that under solid-state fermentation, the highest recorded activity was observed for manganese peroxidase (11.44U/g), followed by lignin peroxidase (8.05U/g), and laccase (3.15U/g). These findings in dictate the substantial potential for cellulose degradation and subsequent biofuel production. Furthermore, the results of this study revealed that solid-state fermentation partially degraded the lignocellulosic compounds presenting OPEFB. Overall, the monitored enzyme activities in ligninolytic categorised demonstrated moderate levels of performance, emphasizing the promising prospects of OPEFB as a feedstock for biorefinery applications.