Hydrolysis of cellulose and oil palm empty fruit bunches by using consortia of fungi isolated from the soil of Colombian high andean forest

Hydrolytic activity was evaluated in a mixture of supernatants produced by filamentous fungi grown individually on microcrystalline cellulose and empty fruit bunches. The strains that were used correspond to two types of isolates; the first was made from soil samples from a transect of a high andean forest of Colombia, in the Parque Natural Nacional de Los Nevados, where, based on previous studies, we selected the strains B7, B11, B11M and B19. The second isolate was obtained from a pool of oil palm empty fruit bunches (Eleaeis guinensis Jacq.) in different states of decomposition on the Unipalma plantation located in the eastern plains; strains TA1 and TA2. To perform the hydrolysis of cellulose and empty fruit bunches, the previously obtained supernatants from each of the selected strains were cultivated for 300 hours in cellulose and characterized individually by endoglucanase, exoglucanase, and β-glucosidase activity. Individual supernatants were mixed at a 1:1 ratio to form consortia; and hydrolytic activity was evaluated in the substrates at two hours. The glucose concentration was determined by the 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid (DNS) method. The results show that hydrolysis of empty fruit bunch to glucose was favored by three pools of supernatants, with increases greater than 400% in comparison with the hydrolysis obtained by individual supernatants, demonstrating the potential to decompose palm empty fruit bunches; thereby contributing to the reduction of decay time of empty fruit bunches and the decrease of environmental and health problems.