Spray-dryer applied to fungalcellulase drying

• Grant number: 11/17389-2
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: February 01, 2012
• End date: July 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering - Chemical Process Industries
• Principal Investigator: João Cláudio Thoméo
• Grantee: João Cláudio Thoméo
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas (IBILCE). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de São José do Rio Preto. São José do Rio Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Eleni Gomes ; Mauricio Boscolo ; Roberto da Silva ; Viviane Moriya Shiota

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to provide technological treatment to an enzymatic extract containing cellulolytic enzymes obtained by solid state fermentation. The extract will be dried through the spray-drying method, reducing the extract volume for storage and transportation. Organic and inorganic supports will be applied to avoid enzyme activity losses during the drying process. The enzymes will be produced by the thermophilic fungus Myceliophthora sp. I-1D3, which produced large quantities of celluloses in various agro-industrial residues in previous works. Several organic and inorganic supports will be tested under different operational conditions at the spray-dryer. The enzyme powder, associated with the most efficient supports after drying, will be stored under different conditions of temperature to evaluate the shelf life of these products, comparing these results with those of the raw extract. The energy of inactivation, through differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), the surface of particles, through adsorption isotherms (BET) and particle morphology, through scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) will be evaluated for the raw extract and powders, when applicable. The experiments will follow statistical factorial designs. This project is supported by the Grupo de Bioenergia from IBILCE/UNESP (GBIB), which has BIOEN-FAPESP and INCT-CNPq projects and is also membership of the Centro Paulista de Pesquisa em Bioenergia. The group has been producing fungal enzymes with high activity for various applications, such as biomass conversion to ethanol, transesterification of fatty acid into biodiesel, and to improve animal feed. Thus, it is expected through the technological treatment of the enzymes that they become higher value-added materials. The process is potentially patentable. (AU)