Pectinolytic activity of microorganisms in piling of jute

Quantitative as well as qualitative evaluation of microorganisms associated with piling of jute has been studied using raw jute fibre, jute fibre from laboratory bins and fibre samples collected from two jute mills (M/s Bharat Jute Mill and M/s Budge Budge Jute Mill). Bacterial population in raw C. capsularis jute is found to be in the order of 10 per gram of jute fibre and that in raw C. olitorius jute is in the order of 10 per gram of jute fibre. Bacterial population in laboratory bins is found to be in between 10 and 10 per gram of jute fibre while fungal population is in between 10and 10 per gram of jute fibre. The bacterial isolates are mostly Gram-positive rods of the genus Bacillus and fungi mainly of the genera Aspergillus and occasionally Penicillium. No significant change in strength and fineness of fibre has been observed due to 48 h of piling. Bacterial and fungal populations in piled jute samples of Bharat Jute Mill are found to be in the order of 10 and 10 per gram of fibre, while the same in Budge Budge Jute Mill are in the order of 10 and 10 per gram of jute fibre respectively. The bacterial isolates are mostly Gram-positive rods of the genus Bacillus, Gram-positive coccus of the genus Micrococcus and Gram-positive filamentous rods of the genus Streptomyces. Fungal isolates are mainly of the genera Aspergillus and, to a lesser extent, of the genus Penicillium and Dendrophoma. Mucor has been found only in Bharat Jute Mill and Chaetomium is found only in Budge Budge Jute Mill fibre samples. Genera of bacteria and fungi isolated in jute fibre samples from both the jute mills are mostly similar which indicates that only a small group of microorganisms is active in jute bins/piles and they originate from the common source, i.e. soil and water during retting. All the isolated bacteria as well as fungi possess pectinolytic activity. This indicates that the piling microbes might play a significant role in removing residual pectin from the fibre during piling of jute.