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International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation 63 (2009) 12–18

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ibiod

Effective technological pectinases by Aspergillus carneus NRC1 utilizing the

Egyptian orange juice industry scraps
Mostafa M. El-Sheekh a, *, Abdel-mohsen S. Ismail b, Mostafa A. El-Abd b, Eman M. Hegazy c,
Ahmed I. El-Diwany b
a
Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Tanta 31527, Egypt
b
Natural and Microbial Products Chemistry Department, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt
c
Food Toxins and Contaminants Department, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The production of a notable and highly effective pectinase by the local fungal strain Aspergillus carneus
Received 15 May 2008 NRC1 utilizing the abundant Egyptian orange peels and pulps (OPP) scraps excluded in the orange juice
Received in revised form 15 June 2008 and canning industry was achieved in 5-day submerged fermentation (SMF) cultures, at temperature and
Accepted 15 June 2008
pH ranges of 30–55  C and 5.0–5.5, respectively. Fresh or thawed OPP (6%, w/v) were the most preferable
Available online 31 July 2008
sole carbon source. Pectinase activity was dramatically stimulated by ammonium sulphate as the sole
nitrogen source, and at the same time strongly inhibited the production of the other tested enzymes, i.e.,
Keywords:
cellulases and hemicellulases. The lyophilized enzyme preparation was free from any ochra or aflatoxins.
Aspergillus carneus
Orange peels and pulps (OPP)
The optimum conditions of this methodology including enzyme and substrate (citrus pectin) concen-
Pectinase trations were 40 mg ml1 and 7% (w/v), respectively, with pH and temperature of 4.0 and 55  C,
respectively.
Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction polygalacturonase (PGase), pectin esterase, pectin lyase and pectate

At the present, the fundamental exploitation of agricultural and
food wastes, which participate in pollution, is the controlled bi-
ological degradation of the wastes by microorganisms for the
production of valuable compounds such as proteins, poly-
saccharides, oligosaccharides, vitamins, hormones, enzymes and
others as raw materials for medical and industrial uses.
In Egypt more than two million ton of fresh orange fruits are
produced annually, giving better chance for production of orange
juices by many factories. More than hundred citrus juice factories
are widespread overall Egypt and produce orange juice. This food
industry leaves at least 40,000 tons of orange pulps and peels, an-
nually, as highly wettish wastes (Spreen, 2001). Different methods
created for orange-canning wastes (pulps and peels) utilization
were reported by many authors (Elda et al., 1993; Ismail, 1996;
Philips and Associates, Inc., 1997; Scerra et al., 1999; Attyia and
Ashour, 2002: Fujii and Shintoh, 2006; Pagán et al., 2006). It
seemed that good softness and poor crystallinity of such waste
strongly pronounced it for this study (Ismail, 1996).
lyase on the basis of their mode of action (Alkorta et al., 1988; Dinu
et al., 2007). Pectinases have widespread applications in the food
and textile industries (Henriksson et al., 1999), and in addition to
plant tissue maceration, wastewater treatment and degumming of
natural fibers (Baracat-Pereira et al., 1994). The production of pec-
tinolytic enzymes has been reported in bacteria and filamentous
fungi (Patil and Dayanand, 2006; Dinu et al., 2007). However, very
few articles were reported on the production of pectinases by
thermophilic moulds (Jensen and Olsen, 1999; Celestinoa et al.,
2006; Martin et al., 2007).
This work aims at biodegradation of orange peels and pulps
wastes of orange juice industry in Egypt for production of pectinase
enzyme by Aspergillus carneus NRC1. This methodology has two
benefits, the first one is environmentally safe and the second is the
utilization of low cost production of the enzyme, pectinase. Also,
the optimum conditions for pectinase activity were investigated
under this type of biodegradation.
2. Materials

The enzymes that hydrolyze pectic substances are broadly

known as pectinolytic enzymes or pectinases, which include
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ20 40 331 5832; fax: þ20 40 335 0804.
E-mail address: mostafaelsheekh@yahoo.com (M.M. El-Sheekh).
2.1. Microorganisms and culture conditions
Ten microbial isolates (seven fungi and three bacteria) were screened for the
production of multienzyme systems with special reference to the pectic enzymes.
The fungal isolates screened, A. carneus NRC1, Aspergillus niger, Fusarium oxysporum,
Rhizopus solani, Scopulariopsis brevicaulis, Trichoderma harzianum and Trichoderma
viride. These fungal species were obtained from the culture collection of the Centre

0964-8305/$ – see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ibiod.2008.06.002
 Author's personal copy

M.M. El-Sheekh et al. / International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation 63 (2009) 12–18 13

Table 1 Table 3
Percentagea composition of the fresh Egyptian grated orangeb (peels þ pulps) waste The cellulase enzyme activity (% reduction in viscosity) of the culture filtrates of
shaken fungal cultures during different periods of incubation
Moisture Dry weight Soluble Pectin Holo- a-cellulose Hemi- Lignin Ash
content of orange materialsc cellulose cellulose Fungal strain Period of incubation (days)
of fresh waste
3 5 7
sample
Aspergillus carneus NRC1 NA 100 100
76.5 23.5 16.49 24.03 46.97 15.84 31.13 6.5 3.10
A. niger 97.6 100 100
a
Calculated on dry basis. Fusarium oxysporum NA
b
Citrus sinensis var. Balady. Rhizopus solani 45.5 71.1 94.99
c
After heating at 70  C for 1 h. Scopulariopsis brevicaulis NA 64.71 100
Trichoderma harzianum f416 100 100 100
T. viride 83.2 100 NA
of Cultures of the National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt. The bacterial strains Ba-
cillus macerans, Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were obtained from
culture collection of the Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt. 3.3. Assay for pectinase activity
The fungal isolates were maintained as single spore isolates on potato–dex-
trose–agar (PDA) medium, subcultured on PDA slopes and incubated at 30  C for 2 Pectinase activity was measured as reduction percentage in pectin solution
weeks. The bacterial isolates were maintained on PDA medium and incubated at viscosity according to White and Fabian (1953).
37  C for 3 days.
3.4. Assay for CM-cellulase activity
2.1.1. Media
The following media were used and had the following composition (g L1) CM-cellulase was measured viscometrically as described by Eriksson and Holl-
(Ismail, 1996): mark (1969) and Child et al. (1973).

2.1.2. Fungal growth enhancement medium

3.5. Assay for hemicellulase activity
Glucose, 10.0; peptone, 5.0; yeast extract, 1.0; MgSO4, 0.5; KH2PO4, 1.0.
This was measured according to the method adapted by Ismail et al. (1986).
2.1.3. Fungal multienzyme production medium
Fresh orange peel and pulp residue, 266.2; KH2PO4, 0.5; MgSO4, 0.5; NaNO3, 2.5
3.6. Detection of aflatoxins and ochratoxins in A. carneus NRC1 multienzyme
and 740 ml distilled H2O.
preparation
2.1.4. Bacterial inoculum preparation media
Aflatoxins were achieved according to the methods of Bullerman (1974) and
The following two media were tested for the preparation of the bacterial
ochratoxins were assayed and calculated according to the methods of Van Walbeek
inoculum.
et al. (1969).
2.1.5. L-Asparagine broth medium
L-Asparagine, 3.0; KH2PO4, 1.0; MgSO4$7H2O, 0.5 and adjusted to pH 6.9–7.2. This 4. Results and discussion
medium was used for Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Several created methods for utilizing orange-canning wastes

2.2. Tryptone broth medium
(peels and pulps) in order to produce different new raw materials
Tryptone, 10.0; yeast extract, 5.0; NaCl, 10.0 and pH was adjusted to 7.0. This and multienzyme system complexes have been described (Elda
medium was used for Bacillus subtilis and B. macerans. et al., 1993; Ismail, 1996; Philips and Associates, Inc., 1997; Scerra
et al., 1999). In addition, Ismail (1996) pointed out that the good
2.3. Bacterial multienzyme system production medium
softness and poor crystallinity of the grated orange peels strongly
Fresh orange peel and pulp residue, 266.2; NaNO3, 1.0; Na2HPO4, 0.91; pronounced them for multienzyme complexes’ production through
MgSO4$7H2O, 0.5; KCl, 0.5; yeast extract, 0.5; casein hydrolysate, 0.5 and pH was fungal biodegradation. This therefore justified this study for the
adjusted to 7.5. perfect utilization of the fresh orange peels and pulps (OPP) dis-
carded by one of the orange-canning factories in Egypt as a multi-
3. Methods
substrate material suitable for microbial strains capable for the
3.1. Estimation of protein content
production of multienzyme system complex essential for numerous
applications.
The protein content of the enzyme preparations was determined by the method The study of the fresh Egyptian grated OPP waste, regarding the
of Lowry et al. (1951). percentage composition of its different components, showed that
the OPP were highly moistened (76.5%; w/w) and rich in pectin,
3.2. Detection of the pectic enzymes
a-cellulose and hemicellulose (24.03, 15.84 and 31.13%; w/w, re-
This was done by measuring of the decrease in viscosity of pectin solution using spectively), with low content of both lignin and ash (6.5 and 3.1%;
Ostwald viscometer.

Table 4
The hemicellulase enzyme activity of the culture filtrates of shaken fungal cultures
Table 2
during different periods of incubation
The pectinase enzyme activity (% reduction in viscosity) of the culture filtrates of
shaken fungal cultures at 30  C during different periods of incubation Fungal strain Period of incubation in days

Fungal strain Period of incubation (days) 3 5 7

3 5 7 (U) SY (%) (U) SY (%) (U) SY (%)

Aspergillus carneus NRC1 NA 60.5  0.5 46.4  0.3 Aspergillus carneus NRC1 0.0 0.0 0.05 9.6 0.01 1.9
A. niger 48 52  0.2 59  0.0 A. niger 0.06 11.5 0.08 15.4 0.03 5.8
Fusarium oxysporum NA Fusarium oxysporum 0.0 0.0 0.03 5.8 0.0 0.0
Rhizopus solani 57  0.6 60  0.1 28.5  0.0 Rhizopus solani 0.01 1.9 0.035 6.7 0.02 3.8
Scopulariopsis brevicaulis NA 28.6  0.4 17.9  0.4 Scopulariopsis brevicaulis 0.0 0.0 0.02 3.8 0.02 3.8
Trichoderma harzianum f416 NA Trichoderma harzianum f416 0.03 5.8 0.06 11.5 0.02 3.8
T. viride NA T. viride 0.05 9.6 0.04 7.7 0.02 3.8

NA, no activity. SY, saccharification yield.

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14 M.M. El-Sheekh et al. / International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation 63 (2009) 12–18

Table 5 110 0.06

The different enzymatic activitiesa of the culture filtrates of shaken bacterial cultures

Enzyme (pectinase & cellulase) activities

during different periods of incubation 100
Enzyme activities
Bacterial strain Hemicellulase activity 90 Pectinase 0.05

Cellulase

(% Reduction in viscosity)

Hemicellulase activity (U)

Period of incubation (h)
80 Hemi-
24 48 72 cellulase 0.04
70
(U) SY (%) (U) SY (%) (U) SY (%)
Bacillus macerans 0.0 60
B. subtilis 0.0 0.0 0.35 67.4 0.35 67.4 0.03
Pseudomonas aeruginosa 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.52 100.0 50

SY, saccharification yield. 40

a
No pectinase and cellulase activities were detected in bacterial cultures in dif- 0.02
ferent incubation periods. 30

20 0.01
w/w, respectively), Table 1. In comparison with current data, the
Mexican orange gave maximum yield of extracted pectin that did 10
not exceed 20.44% (Elda et al., 1993). As pectin content in the
0 0
Egyptian OPP is higher than that of the Mexican, it seems to be 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
more suitable for pectic enzymes’ productivity. It was noticed that Dry OPP used (g/50 ml medium)
the fresh or thawed OPP were utilized more by our strains to pro-
duce multienzyme systems than the dried OPP and this may be Fig. 1. Effect of orange peels and pulps (OPP) waste quantity in culture medium on
attributed to the profound effect of water upon the structure of different enzymes productivity by A. carneus NRC1 in 5-day shaken cultures.

cellulose. Browing (1963) pointed out that the surface area of cel-
lulose is dramatically increased upon wetting; consequently this cellulase activity. On the other hand, the amount of 3 g/50 ml OPP in
increases the susceptibility of the cellulosic materials to the enzy- culture medium (6%; w/v) was the most proper and enough for the
matic or acid hydrolysis and in turn to microbial attack. Accord- production of the multienzyme complex including the maximal
ingly, the fresh or thawed OPP were constantly used in the culture pectinase, cellulase and hemicellulase activities. Among many ag-
media instead of the dried one. The low lignin and ash contents of ricultural wastes and agro-industrial byproducts, 50% (w/w) orange
Egyptian OPP optimized it for production of pectinase as presented bagasse and wheat bran mixture was the most proper for the
in several studies (Naim et al., 1986). maximal pectin lyase productivity in SSF cultures of newly isolated
Seven fungal and three bacterial strains were tested in shaken Penicillium viridicatum Rfe3 (Silva et al., 2002). Taking the pectin
cultures containing fresh OPP waste as the sole carbon source, at content of OPP into consideration, the proper percentage 6% (w/v)
different culture ages for the productivity of multienzyme com- equals 1.44% (w/v) pectin and this was near to that concluded for
plexes, i.e., pectinases, cellulases and hemicellulases (Tables 2–5). apple pectin by Abdel-Fattah et al. (1977) for optimum production of
After 5 days of shaken culture at 30  C, the fungal isolate A. carneus pectic enzymes by Trichoderma lignorum in 5-day shaken cultures.
NRC1 was the most efficient producer of active multienzyme sys- The initial pH of the basal medium ranged from 5.0 to 5.5 (Fig. 2)
tem complex containing the highest pectinase, cellulase and high and that was suitable for all enzymes produced by A. carneus NRC1.
hemicellulase activities, consequently, was selected for economical The marked effect was mainly on hemicellulase productivity which
production of this enzyme complex. reached its maximal value at pH 5.0.
Study of the effect of the OPP waste quantity in the basal culture Fig. 3 shows that replacement of OPP by different mono- and
medium using different enzymes indicated that both pectinase and disaccharides in equal carbon basis in the production medium led
hemicellulase productivities increased parallelly with the added to no or negligible activities for all enzymes previously detected
OPP (Fig. 1). On the other hand, the effect on hemicellulase pro- and this distinctly reflects the effect of inducible substrate type of
ductivity was remarkable and exceeded more than 3.5 times, while the enzymes involved in the multienzyme system complexes pro-
the minimal OPP quantity (0.94 g) was sufficient for the highest duced by the fungal isolate A. carneus NRC1. The inducible nature of

110 0.12
Enzyme (pectinase & cellulase) activities

100
Pectinase 0.1
90
(% Reduction in viscosity)

Hemicellulase activity (U)

Cellulase
80
Hemi-
cellulase 0.08
70

60
0.06
50

40
0.04
30

20 0.02
10

0 0
3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8
Initial pH value

Fig. 2. Effect of initial pH value on different enzyme productivities by Aspergillus carneus NRC1 grown for 5 days in shake cultures.
 Author's personal copy

M.M. El-Sheekh et al. / International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation 63 (2009) 12–18 15

100

90
Enzyme activities
Pectinase
Enzyme (pectinase & cellulase) activity

80
Cellulase
(% Reduction in viscosity)

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
ol)

e
se

e
se
tos

os

ros
ntr

ino

cto
uc
c

c
Co

Fru
ab

La

Su
Gl
P(

Ar
OP

Carbon Source
Fig. 3. Effect of different carbon sources on different enzymes productivity by A. carneus NRC1 in 5-day shaken cultures.

the aforementioned fungal enzymes was previously reported by soybean powder) for pectinases’ production had the most in-
many authors (Ismail, 1996; Silva et al., 2002; Bai et al., 2004). hibitory effects on the production of the other enzymes, i.e.,
The effect of different nitrogen sources was investigated by re- cellulases and hemicellulases. In this respect, the stimulation of
placement of NaNO3 in equal nitrogen basis by any of the bi- fungal pectinases secretion by ammonium sulphate was reported
ologically active complexes (peptone, yeast extract, soybean earlier by many authors (Abdel-Fattah and El-Hawwary, 1973;
powder, milk whey or wheat bran), organic (urea) or inorganic Abdel-Fattah et al., 1977). On the other hand, the repression of
(ammonium sulphate) N sources, to verify their suitability for fungal cellulases by ammonium sulphate was mentioned in many
pectinase enzyme production by the selected fungal isolate A. reports (Abdel-Fattah et al., 1995; Ismail et al., 1995). In addition,
carneus NRC1. Table 6 showed that the replacement of NaNO3 in the Hamilton and Wase (1991) distinctly asserted the inhibitory effects
culture medium by any of the above-mentioned N sources led to of ammonium ions on endoglucanase, b-glucosidase and exo-
many dissimilar effects on the productivity of the different con- cellulase from A. fumigatus IMI 255091. Concerning the fungal
cerned enzymes. Generally, all N sources tested led to moderate or hemicellulases, the suppression of their productivity by ammo-
good pectinase productivity, particularly ammonium sulphate by nium sulphate was also announced (Ismail et al., 1986, 1994; Ismail,
which the highest pectinase yield was attained. It was worthy to 1996). These effects may be particularly due to the high acidic pH
note that the most preferable N sources (ammonium sulphate or
Table 7
Table 6 Effect of different additives (1% w/v) to the optimized medium different enzymes
Effect of different nitrogen sources on different enzymes productivity by Aspergillus productivity by A. carneus in 5-day shaken cultures
carneus NRC1 grown for 5 days in shaken cultures
Type of additive Protein content Pectinase activity Hemicellulase
Nitrogen source pH of Protein content of Enzyme activity of CF (mg/ml) (% reduction in viscosity) activity (U)
the CF CF (mg/ml)
Pectinase Cellulase Hemicellulase Controla 2.21  0.04 77.0  0.6 0.28
Beet molasses 2.28  0.01 61.5  1.0 0.0
(% Reduction in (U) Glycine 1.97  0.00 56.97  1.4 0.08
viscosity) Wheat flour 2.21  0.01 65.7  0.8 0.21
Sodium nitrate 7.36 2.32 61.0 100 0.1 Wheat bran 2.16  0.03 66.9  0.9 0.23
(control) Sugar cane molasses 2.69  0.12 61.1  0.2 0.0
Ammonium 3.0 1.99 77.0 0.0 0.28 Glucose 2.26  0.08 42.4  0.5 0.0
sulphate Starch 2.36  0.01 62.0  0.1 0.0
Urea 6.2 2.65 38.5 97 0.45 Sucrose 2.38  0.05 41.6  0.6 0.0
Peptone 6.2 2.88 42.3 96.5 0.56 Lactose 2.12  0.14 81.0  0.5 0.0
Yeast extract 6.4 2.71 46.15 100 0.45 Fructose 2.69  0.06 41.0  0.1 0.0
Soy bean 6.5 2.39 75.8 0.0 0.0 ZnSO4 1.99  0.03 48.21  0.2 0.0
powder FeCl3 þ ZnSO4 2.17  0.10 58.17  0.8 0.0
Milk-whey 6.2 2.17 61.3 0.0 0.0 (0.5 þ 0.5% w/v)
Wheat bran 6.5 2.65 69.7 0.0 0.0 FeCl3 1.85  0.06 58.96  0.1 0.0
a
* On equal N basis. Basal medium with (NH4)2SO4 as nitrogen source.
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16 M.M. El-Sheekh et al. / International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation 63 (2009) 12–18

100

Pectinase activity (% Reduction in viscosity) 90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
10 20 30 40 50 60
Incubation temperature (°C)

Fig. 4. Effect of incubation temperatures on pectinase productivity by A. carneus NRC1 in 5-day shaken cultures.

(3.0) of the culture filtrates in the presence of ammonium sulphate media formulated by many authors and principally contained or-
and this coincided with those found with Penicillium funiculosum ange bagasse or peels were devoid of the metal ions Zn2þ and Fe3þ
258 (Ismail et al., 1994). (Ismail, 1996; Silva et al., 2002). The stimulating effect of lactose on
The effect of some additives and metal ions on the different the productivity of other fungal enzymes was also reported (Ismail
enzyme productivities by A. carneus NRC1 was investigated et al., 1995). On the other hand, hemicellulase production was
(Table 7). These additives included some industrial wastes (sugar variably inhibited by all additives mentioned before and it is worthy
cane molasses, beet molasses and wheat bran), monosaccharides to note that lactose addition completely inhibited hemicellulase
(glucose and fructose), disaccharides (sucrose and lactose), poly- production. Ismail et al. (1994) and Ismail (1996) reported the in-
saccharides (starch and wheat flour), amino acid (glycine) and hibitory effects of lactose on xylanase synthesis by the fungal iso-
metal ions (Fe3þ, Zn2þ and Fe3þ þ Zn2þ) and added in equal weight late P. funiculosum 258.
basis (1%; w/v). Among all the additives above-mentioned lactose The incubation temperature range of 30–55  C (Fig. 4) favored
slightly stimulated pectinase productivity (5% only), while the pectinases production and the maximal yield was attained at 50  C,
others had varied inhibitory effects. Each of fructose, Zn2þ and Fe3þ
were the most unfavorable additives. Fungal pectinases production 100

100
Pectinase activity (% Reduction in viscosity)
Pectinase activity (% Reduction in viscosity)

90 95

80

70
90

60

50
85
40

30

80
20

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 0.5 1 1.5
Enzyme protein concentration (mg/ml) Citrus pectin concentration (% w/v)

Fig. 5. Effect of the crude lyophilized enzyme protein concentration on pectinase Fig. 6. Effect of the substrate (citrus pectin) concentration of the crude lyophilized
activity produced by Aspergillus carneus NRC1. enzyme preparation from Aspergillus carneus NRC1 on pectinase activity.
 Author's personal copy
M.M. El-Sheekh et al. / International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation 63 (2009) 12–18
100
Pectinase activity (% Reduction in viscosity)
80
60
40
20
0
3 4 5 6
pH of the reaction
Fig. 7. Effect of the pH of the reaction on pectinase activity of the crude lyophilized
enzyme preparation from Aspergillus carneus NRC1.
denoting good thermostability and thermophilicity of both pecti-
nases and their producer A. carneus NRC1, respectively, in 5-day
shaken cultures. This adds good applicable advantage to the crude A.
carneus NRC1 pectinases. Thus, A. carneus NRC1 was prevalent to
Aspergillus foetidus (NRRL 341, ATCC 16878) which optimally pro-
duced pectinases after 48 h at 30  C and strongly suppressed at
35  C after 36 h in solid state cultures utilizing apple pomace (Hours
et al., 1988). Our crude enzyme was also superior to A. niger A-20
which optimally produced multienzyme systems of pectinases,
cellulases and xylanase at 30  C with maximal pectinases not ex-
ceeding 59% reduction in viscosity of pectin solution (Ismail, 1996).
The general properties of the crude pectinases enzyme pro-
duced by A. carneus NRC1 were studied. The results shown in Fig. 5
demonstrated that a parallel relationship existed between the en-
zyme concentration and pectinase activity up to a concentration of
4 mg ml1.
Fig. 6 shows that substrate concentration above 0.7% (w/v) was
a limiting factor for pectinase activity. This might be due to the
resulting unfavorable reaction medium of the high substrate/enzyme
ratio, although 0.8–1.0% pectin concentration was recommended for
other fungal pectinases (Abdel-Fattah et al., 1977; Silva et al., 2002).
The crude pectinase preparation exhibited its maximal activity
at pH 5.0, using 0.02 M sodium acetate–acetic acid buffer (Fig. 7).
Higher pH values (6.5–7.5), using Sorensen sodium phosphate–
potassium phosphate had a deleterious effect on the enzyme ac-
tivity, where the slight alkalinity caused about 70% loss of the
maximal activity at the same conditions. This was substantiated
with the highly acidic final pH (3.0) of A. carneus NRC1, which
possessed the highest pectinase activity in the presence of am-
monium sulphate as N source in the production basal medium,
indicating the acidic nature of the crude enzyme preparation.
Similar pH optima were also found for other fungal pectinases
(Abdel-Fattah et al., 1977; Ismail, 1996; Silva et al., 2002; Dinu et al.,
2007).
The crude enzyme preparation displayed excellent activities
within a very wide range of temperature (35–65  C) and the
maximal activity was brought about at 55  C (95% reduction in
0.7%; w/v citrus pectin solution), Fig. 8, denoting admirable ther-
mostability of A. carneus NRC1 crude pectinase in the presence of its
substrate and this agreed with the results reported for the other
crude and partially purified fungal pectinases (Abdel-Fattah et al.,
1977; Ismail, 1996; Silva et al., 2002). As pectinases are the target
17
96
Pectinase activity (% Reduction in viscosity)
95
94
93
92
91
90
89
88
87
7 8 0
35 40 45 50 55 60 65
Reaction temperature (°C)
Fig. 8. Effect of the reaction temperature on pectinase activity of the crude lyophilized
enzyme preparation from Aspergillus carneus NRC1.
enzymes, the basal medium containing OPP waste as the sole car-
bon source and supplemented with ammonium sulphate as N
source instead of NaNO3 and yielded the highest pectinase activity
in 5-day shaken culture by the fungal isolate A. carneus NRC1 was
the best as optimum production medium. It is of primary impor-
tance to declare that the initial raw enzymatic preparation as
a multienzyme system devoid of any toxins proved to be highly
agreeable as strong saccharifying agent for many agricultural
wastes besides its good and possible uses in textile industries.
References
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Abdel-Fattah, A.F., Mabrouk, S.S., Ismail, A.S., 1977. Production of polygalacturonase
and pectin-methylesterase by fungi. Chemie Mikrobiologie Technologie der
Lebensmittel 5, 38–41.
Abdel-Fattah, A.F., Ismail, A.S., Abdel-Naby, M.A., 1995. Utilization of water hyacinth
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