Comparative Analysis of Growth Factors Influencing Pectinase Production in Aspergillus Species

Abstract

The global demand for fungal pectinases has increased significantly due to their versatile applications across various industrial sectors. Utilizing inexpensive substrates from agro- industry has proven to be a highly advantageous strategy for cost effective production. The study focusses on optimization of cultural conditions for production of pectinases under submerged fermentation using wheat bran and citrus peel as the substrates. Fungal strains were isolated from vegetable waste dump yard soils of Warangal district of Telangana state and screened for their activity on pectin agar medium. Among 30 isolates, two fungal strains showed good activity and identified them as A. niger and A. flavus. The study investigated the impact of growth factors including Ascorbic acid, Biotin, Cyanocobalamine, Folic acid, Pyridoxine and Riboflavin on Pectinases viz. exo-PG, endo-PG, endo-PL and PME by A. niger and A. flavus with 1% wheat bran and Citrus peel were carried out in submerged fermentation. These studies revealed that pyridoxine was identified as the most effective growth factor for enzyme production. Among all the growth factors Pyridoxine was shown to be efficient growth factor for all types of pectinases under investigation. For endo-PG, endo-PL and PME maximum enzyme production were recorded on 8th day of incubation period but for exo-PG enhanced production was observed on 12th day. A. niger and A. flavus could not produce PME on 12th day. Among six different growth factors were screened, maximum pectinase production was recorded in pyridoxine at concentration of 500 ppm for A. niger and A. flavus. These findings suggest that the optimization of cultural conditions and nutrient supplementation can significantly improve the feasibility of largescale industrial enzyme production.