Quantification of Endoglucanase Activity based on Carboxymethyl Cellulose in Four Fungi Isolated from an Aerated Lagoon in a Pulp and Paper Mill

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify cellulolytic fungal strains capable of degrading cellulose from an aerated lagoon in a pulp and paper mill. Four fungal strains that were found to be highly active were isolated on carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and suggested to be CMCase/endoglucanase. The identified strains were Aspergillus niger, Penicillium sp., Aspergillus fumigatus, and Mucor sp. All the strains were studied in terms of cultural morphological characteristics and microscopic examinations. The endoglucanase with the highest isolate production was Penicillium sp., which also showed the highest qualitative endoglucanase activity (1.3 cm), in addition to the main activity of endoglucanase with 297 mmol/mg.min after 116 h. The results indicated that CMC is able to induce endoglucanase enzyme production and that the fungal isolates showed significant cellulose degradation properties.

Keywords

• Quantification
• CMC
• Activity endoglucanase
• Cellulose
• Pulp and paper
• Aerated lagoon