Mohamad Faizal Ibrahim

Utilization of oil palm decanter cake for cellulase and polyoses production

The abundance of oil palm decanter cake (OPDC) is a problem in oil palm mills. However, this lignocellulosic biomass can be utilized for cellulase and polyoses production. The effectiveness of chemical and physical pretreatment in reducing the lignin content was studied by saccharification using a Celluclast 1.5 L and scanning electron microscope. Physicochemical pretreatment of OPDC with 1% (w/v) NaOH and autoclaving at 121°C for 20 min increased potential polyoses produced to 52.5% and removed 28.7% of the lignin content. The optimized conditions for cellulase production by a locally isolated fungus were a time of 120 h, a substrate of untreated OPDC, a spore concentration of 1 × 107 spore/mL, a temperature of 30°C, and a pH between 7.0 and 7.5. Trichoderma asperellum UPM1 produced carboxymethylcellulase (CMCase), β-glucosidase and filter paper activity (FPase) in the following concentrations: 17.35, 0.53, and 0.28 U/mL, respectively. Aspergillus fumigatus UPM2 produced the CMCase, β-glucosidase and FPase in the following amounts: 10.93, 0.76, and 0.24 U/mL. The cellulases from T. asperellum UPM1 produced 2.33 g/L of polyoses and the cellulases from A. fumigatus UPM2 produced 4.37 g/L of polyoses.

Harnessing the potential of ligninolytic enzymes for lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment

Abundant lignocellulosic biomass from various industries provides a great potential feedstock for the production of value-added products such as biofuel, animal feed, and paper pulping. However, low yield of sugar obtained from lignocellulosic hydrolysate is usually due to the presence of lignin that acts as a protective barrier for cellulose and thus restricts the accessibility of the enzyme to work on the cellulosic component. This review focuses on the significance of biological pretreatment specifically using ligninolytic enzymes as an alternative method apart from the conventional physical and chemical pretreatment. Different modes of biological pretreatment are discussed in this paper which is based on (i) fungal pretreatment where fungi mycelia colonise and directly attack the substrate by releasing ligninolytic enzymes and (ii) enzymatic pretreatment using ligninolytic enzymes to counter the drawbacks of fungal pretreatment. This review also discusses the important factors of biological pretreatment using ligninolytic enzymes such as nature of the lignocellulosic biomass, pH, temperature, presence of mediator, oxygen, and surfactant during the biodelignification process.

IMPROVED CELLULASE PRODUCTION BY Botryosphaeria rhodina FROM OPEFB AT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE CONDITION THROUGH STATISTICAL OPTIMIZATION

The response surface method was applied in this study to improve cellulase production from oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) by Botryosphaeria rhodina. An experimental design based on a two-level factorial was employed to screen the significant environmental factors for cellulase production. The locally isolated fungus Botryosphaeria rhodina was cultivated on OPEFB under solid-state fermentation (SSF). From the analysis of variance (ANOVA), the initial moisture content, amount of substrate, and initial pH of nutrient supplied in the SSF system significantly influenced cellulase production. Then the optimization of the variables was done using the response surface method according to central composite design (CCD). Botryosphaeria rhodina exhibited its best performance with a high predicted value of FPase enzyme production (17.95 U/g) when the initial moisture content was at 24.32%, initial pH of nutrient was 5.96, and 3.98 g of substrate was present. The statistical optimization from actual experiment resulted in a significant increment of FPase production from 3.26 to 17.91 U/g (5.49-fold). High cellulase production at low moisture content is a very rare condition for fungi cultured in solid-state fermentation.

Optimisation of Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation (SSF) for Biobutanol Production Using Pretreated Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch

This study was conducted in order to optimise simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) for biobutanol production from a pretreated oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) by Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824. Temperature, initial pH, cellulase loading and substrate concentration were screened using one factor at a time (OFAT) and further statistically optimised by central composite design (CCD) using the response surface methodology (RSM) approach. Approximately 2.47 g/L of biobutanol concentration and 0.10 g/g of biobutanol yield were obtained after being screened through OFAT with 29.55% increment (1.42 fold). The optimised conditions for SSF after CCD were: temperature of 35 °C, initial pH of 5.5, cellulase loading of 15 FPU/g-substrate and substrate concentration of 5% (w/v). This optimisation study resulted in 55.95% increment (2.14 fold) of biobutanol concentration equivalent to 3.97 g/L and biobutanol yield of 0.16 g/g. The model and optimisation design obtained from this study are important for further improvement of biobutanol production, especially in consolidated bioprocessing technology.

Combination of Superheated Steam with Laccase Pretreatment Together with Size Reduction to Enhance Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Oil Palm Biomass

The combination of superheated steam (SHS) with ligninolytic enzyme laccase pretreatment together with size reduction was conducted in order to enhance the enzymatic hydrolysis of oil palm biomass into glucose. The oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) and oil palm mesocarp fiber (OPMF) were pretreated with SHS and ground using a hammer mill to sizes of 2, 1, 0.5 and 0.25 mm before pretreatment using laccase to remove lignin. This study showed that reduction of size from raw to 0.25 mm plays important role in lignin degradation by laccase that removed 38.7% and 39.6% of the lignin from OPEFB and OPMF, respectively. The subsequent saccharification process of these pretreated OPEFB and OPMF generates glucose yields of 71.5% and 63.0%, which represent a 4.6 and 4.8-fold increase, respectively, as compared to untreated samples. This study showed that the combination of SHS with laccase pretreatment together with size reduction could enhance the glucose yield.

Pre-treatment of Oil Palm Biomass for Fermentable Sugars Production

Malaysia is the second largest palm oil producer in the world and this industry generates more than 80 million tonnes of biomass every year. When considering the potential of this biomass to be used as a fermentation feedstock, many studies have been conducted to develop a complete process for sugar production. One of the essential processes is the pre-treatment to modify the lignocellulosic components by altering the structural arrangement and/or removing lignin component to expose the internal structure of cellulose and hemicellulose for cellulases to digest it into sugars. Each of the pre-treatment processes that were developed has their own advantages and disadvantages, which are reviewed in this study.

ACB2015: Biotechnology and bioeconomy for sustainable future.

Asian Congress on Biotechnology (ACB) was first initiated in 1990 and formerly known as APBioChEC (AsiaPacific Biochemical Engineering Conference) before it was transformed into ACB in 2009 under the umbrella of Asian Federation of Biotechnology (AFOB). The 10th ACB2011 was held in Shanghai, China followed by the 11th ACB2013 in New Delhi, India. The 12thACB2015 was held in Kuala Lumpur, capital city of Malaysia. The congress was mainly organized by AFOB Malaysia Chapter and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) in collaboration with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM), University of Malaya (UM), Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan (Kyutech) and Kyushu University, Japan. The advisory boards were Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia (MOHE), Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation Malaysia (MOSTI) and Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation (BiotechCorp). The congress was supported by Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) under Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia (MOTOUR). Chaired by Prof. Mohd Ali Hassan and Prof. Suraini Abd-Aziz, ACB2015 has shown a meaningful and remarkable experience for participants who attended the congress. The theme for this congress was “Biotechnology and Bioeconomy for Sustainable Future”, aimed to provide a platform for scientists, academia and industry to present their current research findings in various biotechnological fields. The congress also served as a platform for networking opportunities and knowledge sharing as it brought together researchers from around the world. The congress covered 12 technical sessions, one special session, two young researcher sessions and three sponsored luncheon talks. The congress attracted more than 500 abstract submissions with a total of 476 final registered participants from over 24 different countries. There were 173 oral presenters, 234 poster presenters and remaining were attended as participant only. The congress invited three plenary speakers, 16 keynote speakers and 35 invited speakers from various countries to deliver a talk of their expertise. The congress was officially launched by YBhg. Professor Dr.-Ing. Ir. Renuganth Varatharajoo, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Industry & Community Relations), UPM on behalf of YBhg. Professor Dato’ Dr. Mohd Fauzi Hj Ramlan, Vice Chancellor of UPM. First plenary speaker, Dr. Zulkifli Mohamed Hashim, Deputy Secretary General (Science), Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), Malaysia talked on Malaysian policies and strategies for biotechnology that highlighted on the recent policies provided by the Malay-