Tomato fruits as a Potential source of Pectinolytic Enzyme Production by Pathogenic Fungi

Microbes are well known source for the production of extracellular enzymes and industrial important secondary metabolites. Since fruits contain pectin, hence any microorganism that will involve in their spoilage must naturally possess cell wall destroying ability. This study was aimed at isolation and characterization of pectinase producing fungi from Tomato fruits. Tomato fruits were collected from Bodija. Market, Ibadan, Nigeria. Spoilage fungi were isolated and characterized with standard techniques. Six (6) fungi were isolated from the fruits: Aspergillus niger, Penicillium nigricans, Rhizopus stolonifer, Fusarium oxysporium and Trichoderma harzanium. The fungi were screened for the pectinolytic enzyme production on solid media. Among the isolates, Aspergillus niger, Penicillium nigricans, Rhizopus stolonifer and Fusarium oxysporium were selected for pectinase production using solid state fermentation (SSF) with Orange peel. Crude enzyme production was optimized with pH, temperature, substrate concentrations and incubation period. All the isolates produced maximally at pH 7, 1.5 substrate concentration , 50 0C and 72Hr incubation except Penicillium nigricans at pH(5) and temperature of 40oC. These organisms can further be studied for their enzymes to be purified and characterized.