Studies on the production of nigerloxin using agro-industrial residues by solid-state fermentation

Nigerloxin, a new and potent lipoxygenase
inhibitor, was discovered in our laboratory through solidstate
fermentation of wheat bran by Aspergillus niger V.
Teigh (MTCC-5166). The aim of this study is to investigate
the possibility of using different agro-industrial residues as
nutritional supplements along with wheat bran to enhance
the production of nigerloxin. Nigerloxin produced by SSF
was quantified spectrophotometrically at 292 nm. The
results indicate that the inhibitor production was influenced
by the type of solid substrate supplemented, moisture content,
pH and size of the inoculum. Individually optimized
supplements were tested in different combinations to determine
their effects on nigerloxin production. A twofold
increase in the production of nigerloxin (4.9 ± 0.3
mg gds-1) was achieved by supplementing wheat bran with
10% w/w sweet lemon peel and 5% v/w methanol at optimized
process parameters, that is, an initial moisture content
of 65% v/w and incubation period of 6 days with an initial
inoculum size of 2 ml (8 9 105 spores gds-1). Nigerloxin
production was stable between pH of 4 and 5.