Cultivation of Polyporus squamosus for pectinase production in aqueous two-phase system containing sugar beet extraction waste.

Cultivation of the fungus Polyporus squamosus for pectinase production was studied in a polyethylene glycol/crude dextran aqueous two-phase system, with sugar beet extraction waste as pectin source. Fungal growth was restricted to the bottom phase and the amounts of biomass and exo-pectinase activity produced were superior to in homogeneous cultivation. The partition coefficients of endo-pectinase and exo-pectinase were 4.26 and 2.78, respectively. The top phase yields in the single extraction step were about 90% for both pectinases.