Prickly palm cactus husk as a raw material for production of ligninolytic enzymes by Aspergillus niger.

Prickly palm cactus husk was used as a solid-state fermentation support-substrate for production of the ligninolytic enzymes laccase, peroxide manganese, and lignin peroxidase by Aspergillus niger. Effects of water activity, temperature, and fermentation time on enzymatic production were evaluated using a central composite rotatable design. Response surface methodology revealed that maximum enzyme production was achieved at 73.38 h of fermentation, a water activity of 0.87 Aw, at 28.74°C for laccase, at 65.33 h, 0.89 Aw, and 28.96°C for lignin peroxidase, and at 70.44 h, 0.91 Aw, and 28.84°C for manganese peroxidase. Optimized enzyme production was 9,023.67 UI/L for laccase, 2,234.75 UI/L for lignin peroxidase, and 8,534.81 UI/L for manganese peroxidase. Thermostability and pH stability were observed for all enzymes. Enzymatic deactivation kinetic experiments indicated that enzymes remained active after freezing of crude extracts.