Sugarcane Bagasse and Passion Fruit Rind Flour as Substrates for Cellulase Production by Bacillus Sp. SMIA-2 Strain Isolated from Brazilian Soil

The application of wastes from the food processing industry as carbon sources in enzyme production processes reduces the cost of production, and helps solving problems related to their disposal. In this work, we demonstrated that the use of sugarcane bagasse as cellulosic substrate, in combination with passion fruit rind flour, as co-substrate and corn steep liquor as nitrogen source can be successfully employed for the production of avicelases (avicel-hydrolyzing enzymes) by Bacillus sp. SMIA-2. This would promote the use of these agricultural byproducts as novel and cost-effective culture media for the production of the enzyme. The maximum avicelase activity was obtained when Bacillus sp SMIA-2 was grown in liquid medium containing 0.625% (w/v) sugarcane bagasse, 0.625% (v/v) corn steep liquor and 075% (w/v) passion fruit peel flour for 168 hours.