Background:
Groundnut shell is an important byproduct of groundnut cultivation. In India, about 3 MT of groundnut shells are available annually at nominal cost, and are mostly used as fuel, in poultry industry, for production of briquettes, etc. It contains about 70% cellulose. The shell can be used more profitably by utilizing it for the production of enzyme cellulase – creating wealth from waste by microbial processing:
Technology details:
Groundnut shell is one of the richest sources of cellulose (upto 70%). It can be utilized by microorganisms for the production of enzyme cellulase. At present, about 10% of domestic need of cellulase is met from local production, and 90% being imported. Therefore, a part of the available groundnut shell can be utilized for production of cellulase at industrial scale by microbial fermentation. The cellulases are being produced from wheat or rice straw containing about 35% cellulose. The cellulase enzyme is used in industries in bio-polishing fabrics/garments, bio-stone washing, animal feed, textile, food industry, enzymatic saccharification of agro-waste, etc. To meet the growing demand of the use of enzymes in different sectors, a fermentation technology has been developed for producing cellulases by utilizing groundnut shell as a substrate employing microbes like Trichoderma sp. and Phanerochaete sp. by fermentation (both solid substrate and liquid). By liquid fermentation, 100-200 IU of cellulase can be produced/g shell. Thus, by processing of 100 kg groundnut shell, 10.0-20.0 million IU of cellulase can be produced and a net income of Rs. 15000-20000.00 can be earned. As raw material is very cheap, the cost per unit would be very nominal.