PRODUCTION AND PARTIAL PURIFICATION OF CELLULASES PRODUCED BY Trichoderma koningii

The ethanol obtained from cellulose is a source of renewable and promising energy that finds as an economic obstacle the process of saccharification of cellulose. In the process of saccharification of cellulose by enzymatic route the cellulases are employed. Cellulases are enzymes that degrade cellulose and are usually produced industrially by submerged fermentations with filamentous fungi of the genus Trichoderma. The high cost of cellulases is mainly due to the purification processes. Thus, this study aimed to produce cellulases by submerged fermentation, employing the filamentous fungus Trichoderma koningii with sugarcane bagasse and carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) as substrates, and partially purify the cellulases by Fractionated Precipitation with ammonium sulfate and Ultrafiltration with concentrators of membrane. It was obtained as the best result for the enzymatic production 1373 IU.L-1, employing 2.7%(w/v) of sugarcane bagasse and 6g.L-1 of CMC. In the fractionated precipitation step, a maximum purification factor equal to 3.53 and a total yield of 51.4% was obtained. In the ultrafiltration step, the maximum purification factor achieved was 1.98 and the maximum yield was equal to 88.9%.