Characteristics of <i>Aspergillus niger</i> xylanases produced on rice husk and wheat bran in submerged culture and solid‐state fermentation for an applicability proposal

Abstract

Summary Xylanolytic rich filtrates were obtained by A. niger sp in both submerged and solid‐state culture using rice husk or wheat bran as the only carbon source. Filtrates obtained on rice husk showed the highest activities (~6500 and 5200 U g −1 , respectively). Independent of carbon source, these filtrates were very stable in an acidic pH range (4–7) and mild temperatures, with high half‐life time values (more than 7 h at 50 °C) in the corresponding inactivation kinetic models. Also the effect of different metallic ions and denaturing substances was verified finding that these enzymes are not metaloproteins, and metals as Hg 2+ and Pb 2+ caused the greatest loss of xylanolytic activity (not higher than 30%). Xylanases produced by this A. niger strain showed important features that make them potential candidates for applications on human and livestock food industries.