Trichoderma harzianum Enzyme Production in Stirred Solid-State Bioreactors as a Strategy for Valorizing Water Hyacinth

Nohemi López-Ramírez, Ernesto Favela-Torres, Tania Volke-Sepúlveda and Fernando Méndez-González ()
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Nohemi López-Ramírez: Program in Edaphology, Postgraduate College, Texcoco 56264, Mexico
Ernesto Favela-Torres: Biotechnology Department, Metropolitan Autonomous University, Iztapalapa 09340, Mexico
Tania Volke-Sepúlveda: Biotechnology Department, Metropolitan Autonomous University, Iztapalapa 09340, Mexico
Fernando Méndez-González: Biotechnology and Bioengineering Laboratory, Research Center for Food and Development, Delicias 33089, Mexico

Waste, 2025, vol. 3, issue 4, 1-16

Abstract: Water hyacinth is an invasive weed that can valorize through the production of hydrolytic enzymes via solid-state culture. This study explores the application of Trichoderma harzianum in producing xylanases and endoglucanases on water hyacinth beds. Laboratory-scale packed-bed column bioreactors (PBCBs) with a capacity of 8 grams of dry mass (g dm ) were used to evaluate the effects of temperature (28–36 °C) and initial moisture content (65–80%) on microbial growth and enzyme production. High yields of biomass and enzymes were produced at 30 °C. Moreover, xylanase activity was enhanced in cultures with a moisture content of 65% (~71.24 U/g dm ), and endoglucanase activity at 75–80% moisture (~20.13 U/g dm ). The operational conditions identified for xylanase production were applied to 6 L bench-scale cross-flow internally stirred bioreactors, packed to 40% capacity with 450 g dm . Two stirring regimes were tested: intermittent and continuous. The results showed that continuous stirring promotes both microbial growth and xylanase activity. In fact, xylanase activity in continuous stirring conditions was comparable to that achieved in PBCBs. Consequently, continuous stirring enables a 56-fold increase in bioreactor capacity without compromising xylanase production. The approaches developed in this study can support the design of large-scale bioprocesses for the valorization of water hyacinth.

Keywords: bioprocesses; waste valorization; xylanase; endoglucanase; respirometry analysis; internal stirred bioreactor (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q16 Q18 Q2 Q20 Q23 Q24 Q25 Q28 Q3 Q31 Q38 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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