Aims: Traditionally, crustacean wastes have been managed by using acid and alkali which leads to major environmental issue. However, over the recent years microbial fermentation has gained its way whereby producing similar effects as chemical treatment and a higher quality product can be obtained. Extracellular protease from Bacillus subtilis was used further by optimizing its culture medium to enhance protease production. Methodology and Results: The culture media was optimized with 4 various sources; Shrimp Crab Shell Powder (SCSP), nitrogen sources, inorganic salts, and carbon sources. It was found that culture media supplemented with 9% SCSP, 3% yeast extract, 1% sodium chloride and 9% glucose augmented protease activity up to 565.80 ± 19.41 U/mL compared to the un-optimized media (170.57 ± 6.75 U/mL). By using this optimized media, the ability and efficiency of B.subtilis in a period of 6 days was investigated whereby acid treated shrimp shells (ATSS) and raw shrimp shell powder (RSSP) were used in substitution of SCSP. In a period of 6 days, the protein content in both ATSS and RSSP was found to have been removed up to 60% and 42% respectively. However deproteinization was found to be more efficient in RSSP with the ratio of tyrosine to protein remained constantly high throughout the 6 days period. Conclusion, significance and impact of study: A better, more efficient and environmental friendly method is continuously being improvised to manage shrimp wastes with the use of microbes.

Aims: Paddy straw is known to have lignocellulosic materials such as cellulose and hemicellulose which can be readily converted into fermentable sugar for production of bioethanol via simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF). In order to produce ethanol competently, the degradation of biomass by cellulase and highly ethanol-producing microorganism in fermentation process are necessarily needed. However, there is lacking in cellulose degrading organism in producing adequate amount of lignocellulosic enzyme. Therefore, the screening and selection for the best fungi to hydrolyze the lignocellulosic materials as well as forming consortium between two species of fungi has become the main focus. Methodology and results: Thirteen strains of fast-growing fungi were tested qualitatively for cellulase (congo red staining) and polyphenol oxidase (Bavendamm test). All tested strains displayed lignocellulolytic fungi characteristics. The selection was narrowed down by quantitative assay on endoglucanase, exoglucanase, β-glucosidase and xylanase and the highest cellulases enzyme producer were Trichoderma asperellum B1581 (3.93 U/mL endoglucanase; 2.37 U/mL exoglucanase; 3.00 IU/mL β-glucosidase; 54.87 U/mL xylanase), followed by Aspergillus niger B2484 (5.60 U/mL endoglucanase; 1.08 U/mL exoglucanase; 1.57 IU/mL β-glucosidase; 56.85 U/mL xylanase). In compatibility test, both T. asperellum B1581 and A. niger B2484 were inoculated on the same Petri dish for 4 days and the interaction showed by the two species was mutual intermingling. Conclusions, significance and impact of study Both T. asperellum B1581 and A. niger B2484 produced the highest cellulase enzyme. Since both strains can co-exist and produce enzymes that complete each other, a fungal consortium was suggested to increase the yield of sugars in saccharification process.

Aims: The utilisation of lignocellulosic biomass for bioethanol production reduces the dependency on fossil fuels as a source of energy and emission of greenhouse gas (GHG). However, studies in this emerging field are hampered by the cost of ethanol quantification methods. Due to the volatile nature of ethanol, the method for the quantification of bioethanol production should be reproducible and rapid to avoid any evaporation loss to the surroundings. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a simple, rapid and precise bioethanol quantification method using a gas chromatographyflame ionisation detector (GC-FID) without having to go through distillation process for ethanol purification. Methodology and results: The bioethanol was produced via consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) using Trichoderma asperellum B1581 and paddy straw. The peak corresponding to ethanol was obtained at 2.347 min with a peak area of 189.66, equating to 0.159% (v/v) or 1.25 g/L ethanol. A comparison between the quantity of ethanol detected by GC-FID and spectrophotometric analysis (340 nm) showed no significant difference (p>0.05) in the amount of ethanol detected by GC analysis, thus validating the accuracy of the GC method. Conclusion, significance and impact of study This work presents a simple, precise and reliable method to determine the amount of bioethanol in the sample using a GC-FID. Currently, there are many GC-FID methods available for the determination of ethanol/alcohol in a human blood samples or in beverages but not in bioethanol samples. Thus, this method was developed to facilitate the determination of bioethanol in the samples produced from lignocellulosic materials.
Chromatography, Gas ; Flame Ionization ; Ethanol

Aims: Knowledge of the Trichoderma taxa is important for both control efficiency and environmental conservation. Therefore, the objective of this study is to isolate and identify Trichoderma species from various rhizosphere soil samples using phenotypic and molecular characterization. Methodology and results: Native Trichoderma spp. were isolated from agricultural fields in 17 sites from seven states of Malaysia. These isolates were characterized via morphological observation and molecular phylogenetic analysis based on the translation elongation factor-1α (tef1-α) gene. About 42 isolates were classified into eight Trichoderma species, which are Trichoderma asperellum, T. hamatum, T. harzianum, T. koningiopsis, T. rodmanii, T. spirale, T. viride and T. virens. Comparison of DNA sequences of tef1-α showed that the isolates were 98-100% similar to respective Trichoderma species from GenBank, thus confirming the fungal identity. Phylogenetic trees of maximum likelihood (ML) dataset of tef1-α inferred that the isolates were clustered according to species. Conclusion, significance and impact of study Findings in the present study will be beneficial for the purposes of biodiversity conservation and plant disease management using biocontrol agents.
Trichoderma--isolation & ; purification ; Rhizosphere