Opportunities and Issues in the Production of Cellulase from Waste Materials

Enzymatic hydrolysis represents a key step in the production of bioethanol from lignocellulosic materials. Much research is currently focussed on the improvement of the cellulase production process, aiming at better balancing its composition and at reducing its cost. In this work we present and discuss the production of cellulase with myceliar fungi on waste materials used as culture media and inducers, making special reference to olive oil mill wastewater (OOMW) used as a culture medium and olive pomace (OP) used as an inducer. We report experimental results showing that OP is a suitable inducer of cellulase production, albeit less effective than pure cellulose and discuss their limitations and opportunities for improvement