Monday, April 29, 2013
Exhibit Hall
The native vegetation of the semiarid Northeast Brazil consists of plants that support long periods of drought. Among these, the Opuntia ficus-indica that is adapted to edaphoclimatic conditions. Furthermore, it is a food rich in carbohydrates, especially non-fiber and has a low percentage of cell wall, which characterizes it as an energy source. Another plant adapted to the harsh conditions is Mirabilis jalapa. The present study aimed to use the Opuntia and Mirabilis biomass as nutrient source for growth of filamentous fungi (Isolated P2BL and KIJH) on solid-state fermentation condition, to production of enzymes with potential biotechnological applications (holocellulases and amylases). Enzymatic activities were determined using the Dinitrosalicylic Acid (DNSA), from crude extracts obtained from this cultivation. Both fungi showed significant activities to xylanases, in the three substrates tested, highlighting the fungus KIJH on Mirabilis with peel biomass as substrate, with approximately 2.1 IU.mL-1. The activities for mannanases for both fungi were also representative on Mirabilis nutrient source with and without peel. The KIJH-isolate showed high enzyme activity to pectinase for all substrates tested, highlighting the Mirabilis with peel, with a value close to 5.0 IU.mL-1. The same fungus also showed significant activities to total cellulase and amyloglucosidase. The exploration of vegetation Semiarid Northeast Brazil is favorable when it comes to nutrient sources for the production of microbial enzymes. The perspective is to explore the potential of these plants biomass for production of cellulosic and starch ethanol by enzymatic hydrolysis.