Production and characterization of cellulases of Aspergillus niger by using rice husk and saw dust as substrates

The production of cellulases by aspergillus niger in submerged fermentation with two substrates rice husk and saw dust was compared. the highest cellulase activity was observed at 3rd day in pretreated rice husk media (13.702±0.1) and at 2nd day in pretreated saw dust media (9.683±0.2). the optimum temperature of the enzyme was observed to be around 40°c. it was found that the enzyme activity has a broad ph range between 3-9 and 40% of the original activity was retained after heat treatment at 90°c for 15 min. maximum cellulase activity obtained when 2.5% substrate was used above this concentration no regular increase in enzyme activity was noticed. among two lignocellulosic wastes tested in this study rice husk prove to be a good substrate for cellulase enzyme production by the organism aspergillus niger.