Exploration of a high-efficiency and low-cost technique for maximizing the glucoamylase production from food waste

This study was aimed at the exploration of high-efficiency and low-cost technique for glucoamylase (GA) production from food waste; moreover, the produced GA could be directly used in the hydrolysis of food waste. A mixture of food waste, rice waste and cake waste as a sole feedstock was investigated for the production of GA via solid-state fermentation. The highest GA activity of 458.3 U g(−1) was obtained from the rice waste after 9 days of incubation. The cake waste also demonstrated a high GA production, achieving 406.5 U g(−1) dry substrate. However, the most practical substrate for GA production that could be integrated in the food waste treatment was the mixed food waste, which could effectively produce GA without any additives or adjustments using the technique developed in this study. The optimum conditions for GA production from the mixed food waste were determined through a response surface methodology: the temperature of 31.16 °C, the inoculum amount of 1.54 mL, and the time of fermentation of 7.81 days. The maximum GA activity of 180.59 U g(−1) could be achieved under these optimum conditions, which was actually much higher than those reported in the literature. This study showed that the mixed food waste could be an ideal feedstock for the on-site production of high-activity GA, and the produced GA could be directly applied in food waste hydrolysis, which significantly reduced the process cost.