Agro-wastes for cost effective production of industrially important microbial enzymes: An overview

Agricultural waste such as wheat straw, paddy straw, sugarcane bagasse, corn cob, saw dust, etc., which are mostly of lignocellulosic origin, are the subject matter for waste management in the present era. Industrial waste materials associated with the fruit industry are mostly lignocellulosic and often high in polysaccharides such as cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, as well as proteins, lipids, and pectin. Agro-waste bioconversion supported by microbial fortification is one alternative as part of a reuse strategy with the potential for enriching soil health leading to crop productivity to some extent. Another strategy is use of these agricultural wastes as a cheap source of substrate for production of microbial enzymes using solid state fermentation techniques. Fruit wastes, as part of agro-industrial wastes, constitute altogether different types of wastes composed mainly of seed, skin, rind, and pomace, which are considered rich in potentially valuable bioactive ingredients. Fruit wastes needs to be managed with different approaches: use of these wastes for production of industrially important enzymes through solid state fermentation has tremendous scope. Agro-industrial wastes could be utilized as substrates for production of several enzymes such as enzymes that act on polysaccharides (like A-amylase, amyloglucosidases, cellulases, xylanases, inulinases, hemicellulases, mannanase, lactase, β-glucanases, invertases, and pectinases); act on proteins (proteases, transglutaminases); and others, like lipases, phytases, laccases, etc. This chapter highlights the present status of agro-wastes and their management, focusing mainly on the strategy for production of microbial enzymes using wastes.