Amylase Production by Solid State Fermentation of Corn (Zea Mays) Stem Using Fusarium and Mucor

Abstract

The study aimed at producing amylase from corn stem using Mucor and Fusarium in solid state fermentation. The Fungi used in this study were isolated from the rhizosphere of the corn plant. Solid state technique was adopted for the fermentation process using spore suspension as inoculum. Various fermentation parameters such as  incubation days, addition of salt supplement, substrate concentration, mycelia suspension and temperature were optimized during fermentation with these organisms. It was observed that both organisms produced the highest amount of amylase on day 3 at 28 + 2 0C. Mucor  has the highest amylase activity of 12.54 μmol/mg/min when 25g of substrate was used while Fusarium  has the highest amylase activity of 13.86 μmol/mg/min when 5g of substrate was used.  The optimum temperature for amylase production was observed to be 40 0C at pH 8.12 for Mucor while for Fusarium ; it was at 20 0C and pH 8.34. It was concluded that corn stem could be a viable substrate for amylase production when organisms isolated from the rhizosphere of this plant is used in solid state fermentation.