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• Cardoso, A
• Lins, C
• dos Santos, E
• Silva, M
• Campos-Takaki, G
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• Cardoso, A
• Lins, C
• dos Santos, E
• Silva, M
• Campos-Takaki, G
• [+] on PubMed
• Cardoso, A
• Lins, C
• dos Santos, E
• Silva, M
• Campos-Takaki, G

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Molecules 2012, 17(5), 4904-4914; doi:10.3390/molecules17054904

Article

Microbial Enhance of Chitosan Production by Rhizopus arrhizus Using Agroindustrial Substrates

Antonio Cardoso ^1,2 , Clarissa Izabel M. Lins ^2,3 , Ednaldo Ramos dos Santos ^2,4 , Marta C. Freitas Silva ²  and Galba M. Campos-Takaki ^2,*

¹ Northeastern Network of Biotechnology (RENORBIO), Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, 50050-900 Recife, PE, Brazil ² Nucleus of Research in Environmental Sciences (NPCIAMB), Catholic University of Pernambuco, Boa Vista 50050-590 Recife, PE, Brazil ³ Post-graduation Program of Chemical Engineering, State Campinas University, Campinas 13083-852, São Paulo, Brazil ⁴ Post-graduation Program of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife 50670-420 Pernambuco, Brazil

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received: 9 February 2012; in revised form: 16 April 2012 / Accepted: 26 April 2012 / Published: 27 April 2012

(This article belongs to the Section Natural Products)

Download PDF Full-Text [530 KB, uploaded 27 April 2012 11:28 CEST]

Abstract: This study investigated the potential of Rhizopus arrhizus UCP 402 for producing chitosan using corn steep liquor and honey as agroindustrial nitrogen and carbon sources. A complete factorial design was used to assess the improved biomass and chitosan production. The results were evaluated using Pareto charts (Statistica 7.0 software). The chitosan obtained was characterized by X-ray diffraction. The cristallinity index (I_C), and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were used to evaluate the degree of deacetylation (DD %). The morphological aspects of the R. arrhizus were evaluated by measuring the diameter of the colonies by light microscopy. The results obtained showed higher biomass and chitosan yields (20.61 g/L and 29.3 mg/g), respectively, in the selected assays. The characterization of the macromolecular arrangement of chitosan showed a crystallinity index compatible with the literature, and the infrared peaks confirmed a degree of 86%. The experimental data obtained suggest that adding honey to corn steep liquor is a promising way to improve microbiological chitosan production.

Keywords: Rhizopus arrhizus; chitosan; biopolymer; agroindustrial substrates

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