Search

Indonesia is one of the largest cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) producing countries in the world. The production of cocoa produced a waste such as cocoa pod husk that increasing every year and it can be used for producing another valuable product such as sugars. Cocoa pod husk waste contain pectin which has the potential to be used as a substrate for pectinolytic microorganisms to be hydrolyzed into reducing sugar or glucose monomers. In the biotechnological industry, pectin and pectinase are essential macromolecules. They are widely used in the food industry for wine and juice production, clarifying agent and plant tissue maceration. This study was conducted to obtain optimal conditions for the production of pectinase enzyme by Kitasatospora sp. using cocoa pod husk in 1.5 L bioreactor tank. Testing is carried out in several parameters: agitation and aeration. From two parameters used, the one that produces the highest pectinase activity value is selected by using OFAT (One Factor at A Time) method. Beginning of the experiment Agitation was set to 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, 400 rpm and the variation of Aeration ranged from 1 to 3 lpm. Testing the activity of the pectinase enzyme was carried out using the Dinitrosalicylic acid (DNS) method. As the result, the production of pectinase enzyme by the variations of agitation gives the highest pectinase activity value of 3.92 U/mL at 200 rpm, 2 lpm for 144 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coffee pulp is an agro-industrial waste that has an abundant presence in Indonesia, up to 612.000 tons in 2018. Up to 6,5% of coffee pulp's dry weight is pectin. So, the coffee pulp has potential as a substrate for pectinase production. This study aims to acknowledge the utilization of coffee pulp for pectinase production using a solid-state fermentation method by Aspergillus sp. VTM5. Spore suspensions of Aspergillus sp. VTM5 with 108 spores/ml density are inoculated to coffee pulp substrate and incubated for 0 to 168 hours at 30°C. Characterization of pH testing with 250 µl of crude pectinase plus 250 µl of acetate buffer (pH 3-5) and phosphate buffer (pH 5.5-8). Enzyme activity assay using the Somogyi-Nelson Method. Optimum incubation time Aspergillus sp. VTM5 in producing pectinase is at 72 hours and the reducing sugar concentrations are 85,849 µg/ml. The optimum pH for pectinase activity is 4,5 and stable at pH 3-5. These results indicate that coffee pulp can be utilized as a substrate for pectinase production using a solid-state fermentation method by Aspergillus sp. VTM5. Purification of pectin content in the coffee pulp, purification, and characterization of the enzyme is needed to improve enzyme activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]