Optimization of Agricultural Waste Substrate as an Alternative Medium for Xylan in Producing Xylanase Enzymes by Thermophilic Bacteria

Abstract

Xylanase enzyme is a thermostable enzyme produced by thermophilic bacteria which in this study used Aneurinibacillus thermoaerophilus SSA2 isolates. Xylanase enzyme is able to hydrolyze xylan into xylose and xylooligosaccharides. The use of xylan in large quantities was very ineffective because of the high price and low production at this time, therefore it was necessary to find a cheaper substrate, derived from agricultural waste and potentially as an alternative to replace xylan. The purpose of this research was to find a replacable substrate of xylan from agricultural waste containing hemicellulose. Xylan of extraction results from some agricultural waste are mixed into the fermentation medium. Extraction results that produce the most optimum enzyme activity will be treated to find the optimum concentration of the substrate. This research is an experimental study using RAL, where each treatment has 5 replications. Data on the results of enzyme activity were further analyzed by ANOVA test and and continued with DMRT test at a significant level of 0,05. The results showed that the the results showed that the administration of agricultural waste substrate as a substitute for xylan affected the xylanase enzyme activity, were straw substrate had the highest average of enzyme activity at 6,033 Unit/mL and the husk substrate had the lowest average of enzyme activity at 5,667 Unit/mL. Substrate concentration had no significant effect on xylanase enzyme activity.