Fruit wastes as substrate for the production of amylase by Aspergillus niger

Abstract

Waste generation demands that measures must be put in place in order to avert their detrimental effect to the environment. Bioconversion of agricultural waste to useful products like enzyme is a welcome development. Amylase production by Aspergillus niger via submerged fermentation of fruit wastes such as pineapple, orange, banana, cucumber and watermelon was investigated. Biomass of A. niger, amylase produced and pH of the fermenting fruit waste media were determined using standard techniques during submerged fermentation. From the data obtained Banana waste medium produced the highest yield of A. niger amylase (259.00 ± 1.23 U/mL) compared to other waste media at 4 d of fermentation. Amylase yield from Banana waste medium was significantly higher compared with the other fruit wastes (p < 0.05). Among the various supplemented nitrogen sources in the Banana waste medium, ammonium nitrate gave the highest amylase yield of 881.00 ± 16.97 U/mL while the least (549.5 ± 20.51 U/mL) was from potassium nitrate medium. Thus, the study revealed that A. niger can be used for amylase production from fruit waste and optimal yield can be enhanced by supplementing the medium with ammonium nitrate.