Column bioreactor use for optimization of pectinase production in solid substrate cultivation

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the influence of process variables and production, of polygalacturonase (PG) and polymetylgalacturonase (PMG) by solid substrate cultivation using a fixed bed column bioreactor. A fractional factorial design (FFD) was used to study the effect of the following variables: microorganism (Aspergillus oryzae and Aspergillus niger), substratum (wheat bran and defatted rice bran), aeration (40 and 60 ml h-1g-1), pectin (5 and 10 g g-1) and nitrogen (urea and ammonium sulfate). Microorganism, aeration and initial pectin were identified in FFD as significant variables (p<0.05) on PG production. A central composed design to optimize PG and PMG productions indicated that Aspergillus niger presents higher PG production; substratum and nitrogen do not affect PG production; the aeration rate affects positively the production of PG and negatively the production of PMG and the initial pectin concentration affects positively both PG and PMG production. The optimal point of aeration and initial pectin concentration for PG production are 66.13 ml h-1 g-1 and 12.8 g g-1, respectively and for PMG production are 40 ml h-1 g-1 and 15.0 g g-1, respectively.