On-site production of crude glucoamylase for kitchen waste hydrolysis

Kitchen waste from dining rooms accounts for a considerable proportion of municipal solid garbage, and economical recycle ways are needed to be developed. This study investigated glucoamylase production from kitchen waste and the feasibility of kitchen waste hydrolysis by the crude enzymes produced. The key problems of high water content and poor porosity in kitchen waste for glucoamylase production under solid-state fermentation could be solved readily by the addition of corn stover or paddy husk. As a support medium, corn stover was better than paddy husk. Smashed kitchen waste (sKW) mixed with corn stover in the ratio of 3.75 : 1 (dry basis) produced 1838 U g(-1) of glucoamylase by Aspergillus niger UV-60 within 96 h. The enzyme productivity from kitchen waste was over two-fold higher than that from wheat bran with additional nutrients. Without any recovery treatment, the produced glucoamylase could be used directly to hydrolyse sKW slurry. The optimum enzyme dose 8% (crude enzyme/kichen waste, w/w) was not too big, and was sufficient to hydrolyse 10% (dry basis) sKW slurry to produce a maximum amount of reducing sugar of 55.4 g L(-1).