IJSRP, Volume 7, Issue 3, March 2017 Edition [ISSN 2250-3153]
Kiman Silas, Highina K. Bitrus, John M. Wadinda and Abdu Zubairu
Abstract:
Optimal enzyme activity occurs within a limited set of conditions such as temperature and pH which must thus be carefully controlled to promote high reaction rates. Therefore, watermelon peel was collected, processed, pretreated and subjected to hydrolysis in a series of batch reactors. Trichoderma reseei was isolated from decayed wood and the enzymes released by Trichoderma reseei were used for the hydrolysis for glucose production from watermelon dry peel. The effects of temperature at selected temperatures of 20 oC, 25 oC, 30 oC, 35 oC, 40 oC and 45 oC; as well as effects of pH on enzyme activity at selected pH ranges of 3.0 to 5.5 were studied. From the study, the results obtained within the limit of the experimental conditions show an optimal temperature of 30 oC, having a corresponding glucose concentration of 0.091728 g/l, optimal pH of 4.5 with a corresponding glucose concentration 0.6436 g/l, which implies that the enzymes from T. reseeigives high yield of glucose when controlled at these conditions. Also, the watermelon dry sample used in the study was highly deliginified, leading to high glucose yield.