ISSN 2736-1756
Advanced Journal of Microbiology Research ISSN 2736-1756, Vol. 16 (2), pp. 001-006, February, 2022. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Isolation and identification of some fruit spoilage fungi: Screening of plant cell wall degrading enzymes
Rashad R. Al-Hindi1, Ahmed R. Al-Najada1 and Saleh A. Mohamed2*
1Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
2Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Accepted 20 January, 2022
Abstract
This study investigates the current spoilage fruit fungi and their plant cell wall degrading enzymes of various fresh postharvest fruits sold in Jeddah city and share in establishment of a fungal profile of fruits. Ten fruit spoilage fungi were isolated and identified as follows Fusarium oxysporum (banana and grape), Aspergillus japonicus (pokhara and apricot), Aspergillus oryzae (orange), Aspergillus awamori (lemon), Aspergillus phoenicis (tomato), Aspergillus tubingensis (peach), Aspergillus niger (apple), Aspergillus flavus (mango), Aspergillus foetidus (kiwi) and Rhizopus stolonifer (date). The plant cell wall degrading enzymes xylanase, polygalacturonase, cellulase and -amylase were screened in the cell-free broth of all tested fungi cultured on their fruit peels and potato dextrose broth (PDB) as media. Xylanase and polygalacturonase had the highest level contents as compared to the cellulase and - amylase. In conclusion, Aspergillus spp. are widespread and the fungal polygalacturonases and xylanses are the main enzymes responsible for the spoilage of fruits.
Key words: Aspergillus, Fusarium, Rhizopus, fruits, xylanase, polygalacturonase.