Potential use of different agroindustrial by-products as supports for fungal ellagitannase production under solid-state fermentation

• Agroindustrial residues were characterized as solid supports for solid-state fermentation (SSF).
• Water absorption index (WAI) and critical humidity point (CHP) are two important parameters in SSF.
• Sugarcane bagasse, corn cobs, coconut husks and candelilla stalks were used for ellagitannase production.
• Ellagitannase is used for the production of the antioxidant ellagic acid.

Ellagitannase is a novel enzyme responsible for biodegradation of ellagitannins and ellagic acid production. Ellagic acid is a bioactive compound with great potential in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. This work describes the ellagitannase enzyme production from partial purified ellagitannins as inducers by Aspergillus niger GH1 grown on solid-state fermentation. Solid-state fermentation was carried out on four different lignocellulosic materials (sugarcane bagasse, corn cobs, coconut husks and candelilla stalks) as matrix support and production of ellagitannase enzyme was evaluated. All lignocellulosic materials were characterized in terms of water absorption index and critical humidity point. The best lignocellulosic materials for ellagitannase production were sugarcane bagasse and corn cobs (1400 U L−1 and 1200 U L−1, respectively). The lowest values were obtained with candelilla stalks (500 UL-1). The highest specific productivity was obtained with corn cobs (2.5 U mg−1 h−1) which enable increase ellagitannase productivity up to 140 times. Corn cobs have great potential as support matrix for production of fungal ellagitannase in SSF.