Potential application of waste from castor bean (Ricinus communis L.) for production for xylanase of interest in the industry

Xylanases activity (XY) from Aspergillus japonicus URM5620 produced by Solid-State Fermentation (SSF) of castor press cake (Ricinus communis) on different conditions of production and extraction by PEG/citrate aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) were investigated. XY production was influenced by substrate amount (5–10 g), initial moisture (15–35 %), pH (4.0–6.0) and temperature (25–35 °C), obtaining the maximum activity of 29,085 ± 1808 U g ds(−1) using 5.0 g of substrate with initial moisture of 15 % at 25 °C and pH 6.0, after 120 h of fermentation. The influence of PEG molar mass (1000–8000 g mol(−1)), phase concentrations (PEG 20.0–24.0 % w/w and sodium citrate 15–20 % w/w) and pH (6.0–8.0) on partition coefficient, purification factor, yield and selectivity of XY were determinate. Enzyme partitioning into the PEG rich phase was favored by M (PEG) 8000 (g mol(−1)), C (PEG) 24 % (w/w), C (C) 20 % (w/w) and pH 8.0, resulting in partition coefficient of 50.78, activity yield of 268 %, 7.20-fold purification factor and selectivity of 293. A. japonicus URM5620 has a potential role in the development of a bioprocess for the XY production using low-cost media. In addition, the present study proved it is feasible to extract xylanase from SSF by adopting the one step ATPS consisting of PEG/citrate.