Production of a Fermented Solid Containing Lipases of Rhizopus microsporus and Its Application in the Pre-Hydrolysis of a High-Fat Dairy Wastewater

The filamentous fungus Rhizopus microsporus CPQBA 312-07 DRM was grown in solid-state cultivation and the fermented solid produced was used to hydrolyze triacylglycerols in a high-fat dairy wastewater. For the solid-state cultivation, a mixture of sunflower seed meal and sugarcane bagasse (1:3 by mass on dry basis) was selected. After 18 h of culture, the fermented product had an activity, measured titrimetrically against triolein, of 26 U per gram of dry solids. This substrate mixture does not suffer from compaction and therefore can be used in large scale solid-state cultivation bioreactors. When used to pretreat a high-fat dairy wastewater, with an oil and grease level above 1300 mg/L, the fermented solid reduced the oil and grease level to below 300 mg/L after 72 h at 35 °C. Further work is required to improve the production of lipolytic activity in the solid-state cultivation step and to find the optimum pretreatment time in the wastewater pretreatment step.