Recent Insight into Production of Cellulase by Fungi and Its Industrial Applications

Abstract

Cellulase has been extensively studied in the past years due to its potential in the industrial processes. It is mainly exploited due to its ability to hydrolyze cellulose into simpler sugars which can be used to make variety of products. This function also helps in making existing processes more efficient. Lignocellulose is used in many different forms to produce cellulase and is the most well-known bioenergy source. It acts as a substrate and is pretreated with number of techniques including physical, chemical, physiochemical and biological; to make fermentation less time consuming, effective and systematic. Production of cellulase is commercially carried out by a number of organisms but fungi are extensively used; as they give a higher yield, lower cost of production and show higher stability. Industrially, submerged fermentation has been the center of attention for decades where knowledge about solid state fermentation was not precisely distinguished but now it is being studied too, due to lower production cost, being a simpler process, low energy requirement and efficient product recovery. SSF fermentation supports microbial growth on a solid bed in the absence of free water and is a fool proof way of producing cellulase. This study focuses on the existing knowledge of cellulase and its industrial potential, overview of different lignocellulosic substrate and their pretreatment. The readers will be able to grasp comprehensive knowledge on different fungal genera and species involved in cellulase production in solid state fermentation and strategies to measure enzyme activity.