Biodegradation studies of sago hampas by aspergillus spp

• Main Author: Siti Romlah, binti Roslan
• Format: Final Year Project Report
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, (UNIMAS) 2015
• Subjects: SB Plant culture
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/11402/8/Siti%20Romlah%20Binti%20Roslan%28fulltext%29.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/11402/
• Institution: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

Sago hampas is released from sago processing factory after starch extraction. These wastes have been disposed of and leading to environmental problems. Therefore, this project aims to study the biodegradation of sago hampas by Aspergillus species. Aspergillus species plays a significant role in producing extracellular enzymes. Two strains of fungi, Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus jlavus were used in the solid state fermentation where sago hampas is used as substrate. Three analytical analysis were done to determine the rate of biodegradation, including enzyme assays, protein determination and phenol-sulfuric acid assay. Based on the data obtained, the fermentation with A. jlavus shows the highest rate of degradation which is 42 % as compared to A. niger (40 %) and Aspergillus consortia (33 .6 %). It also shows the highest enzymes activity of cellulase (0.053 U/ml) and amylase (0.082 U/m!) produced by A. jlavus. The results from this work present the promising capability ofA.jlavus to biodegrade sago hampas.