Domestic wastewater as substrate for cellulase production by Trichoderma harzianum

Cellulase production using residues as substrate has been well described, as it is an interesting method of reducing the costs of processes, one of the main bottlenecks for the production of enzymes. This research describes for the first time the use of raw domestic wastewater, which is largely and continuously generated, as a culture base medium for cellulase production. The strain Trichoderma harzianum HBA03 was selected according to the highest activity produced for FPase (5.4 U/mL) and CMCase (8.2 U/mL). Peptone was selected as a nitrogen source and microcrystalline cellulose as the inducer for cellulase production, resulting in FPase activities of 5.6 and 5.0 U/mL and CMCase activities of 12.0 and 14.4 U/mL. The use of domestic wastewater as the culture medium led to an increase of 1.41 and 1.14 fold of FPase and CMCase production, respectively, compared to the synthetic medium. Production was also carried out in a bubble column reactor in which the maximum productivities achieved 10.2 U/L.h (FPase) and 64.6 U/L.h (CMCase). The presented results demonstrate the feasibility of the use of domestic wastewater for cellulases production, thereby contributing to the development of a sustainable process for reusing wastewater with a significant reduction in environmental impact.