Abstract

Glucose oxidase is a versatile enzyme with a wide range of practical applications in industries such as food and beverages, healthcare, and biotechnology. As the demand for glucose oxidase continues to increase in diverse sectors such as food processing, pharmaceuticals, and biofuel production, finding sustainable and efficient methods for large-scale production and purification of this enzyme from fungi, particularly Aspergillus niger is paramount. This study was carried out in order to isolate and produce glucose oxidase from yam peels as carbon source. In this study, the microorganism was isolated from Aspergillus niger using yam peels as carbon source. Soil samples were collected randomly from a sugar cane market, at the bagasse dumping site, Donga Local Government, Taraba State Nigeria, whereas yam peels were also collected randomly from Block D female hostel in Federal University Wukari Campus, Wukari, Taraba State Nigeria, in the month of October, 2023. A.niger was isolated from the soil samples and screened for the production of glucose oxidase. Substrate concentration, pH optimization, temperature optimization studies were carried for glucose oxidase The kinetic parameters for glucose oxidase were also studied. The effect of incubation days and protein concentration on glucose oxidase production and activity respectively were also investigated. The results obtained from this study showed that optimal conditions for glucose oxidase production appear to be at day 5 of fermentation (2.375 μmolmin-1), with peak activity observed at a temperature of approximately 40°C (0.831 μmolmin-1) and a pH range of 5-6 (0.312 and 0.283 μmolmin-1, respectively). The kinetic parameters (Vmax and Km) for glucose oxidase produced were found to be 5.0 mmol/min and 0.254 mM respectively. The study concludes that glucose oxidase can be produced from A. niger using yam peels aas carbon source and findings from this study also revealed the necessity for careful optimization of fermentation conditions in industrial processes utilizing glucose oxidase. The study recommended that further investigation should be done on the molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of temperature and pH on glucose oxidase activity.

Keywords

glucose oxidase, isolation, yam peel, aspergillus niger, concentration, substrate