Optimization of nutritional composition and fermentation conditions for cellulase and pectinase production by Aspergillus oryzae using response surface methodology

Cellulase and pectinase are enzymes having a broad industrial and commercial application. These enzymes can be produced from solid state fermentation using agro–industrial residues as substrates. The objective of this study is to optimize nutritional composition and fermentation conditions for the production of both cellulase and pectinase by Aspergillus oryzae under solid state fermentation using response surface methodology. Soybean residue, sucrose, urea and MnSO4.H2O were good nutrients for A. oryzae producing both cellulase and pectinase. Using Box-behnken design with four factors (moisture content, pH, fermentation temperature and fermentation duration) at three level, the optimum condition for A. oryzae producing the highest cellulase and pectinase activities (6.01 FPU/gds and 139.56 U/gds, respectively) was 67% of moisture content, pH 5.9, 33°C and 71.8 h of fermentation. As a result, the activities of both cellulase and pectinase produced by A. oryzae under optimized conditions in this study significantly increased as compared to the traditional one-at-a-time optimization.