Effects of Fungal Co-Culture for the Biosynthesis of Tannase and Gallic Acid from Grape Wastes under Solid State Fermentation

Modified solid-state fermentation (MSSF) of tannin-rich substrates for production of tannase and gallic acid was carried out using fungal co-cultures. Tannin acyl hydrolase or tannase is an enzyme produced extracellularly in solid state fermentation by various fungi. The solid-state fermentation offers a number of advantages over submerged and liquid conventional fermentation for the enzyme production. The production is simple, using vegetable residues such as coffee wastes, grape, cashew or by-products as wheat bran, rice or oats, to which tannic acid is added. The use of residues is an alternative to solve pollution problems that can be caused by an incorrect environmental disposal. Tannase enzyme has several applications on food, juices and pharmaceutical industries. The objective of this work was to select tannase producing fungi such as Aspergillus niger, Penicillium chrysogenum, Trichhoderma viride and the effect of Co-culture (Aspergillus niger + Pencillium chrysogenum, Pencillium chrysogenum + Trichoderma viride, Aspergillus niger + Trichoderma viride, Aspergillus niger + Pencillium chrysogenum + Trichoderma viride) were studied in optimized conditions for the production of this enzyme using grape’s peel as a substrate. The Co-culture Penicillium chrysogenum+ Trichhoderma viride produced highest activity of 84±2 U/g/min than other organisms. Optimized incubation period for the production of enzyme was found to be 96 h. In purification step, 60-80% ammonium sulphate saturation and DEAE A-50 Column Chromatography 50-60 fractions were found to be suitable giving maximum Tannase activity.