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ABSTRACT
Palm wine is an important alcoholic beverage in West Africa, where it is consumed by more than 10 million people. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cellulolytic potential of mycoflora obtained from palm wine drinks sold in Benin city. Eight (8) samples of palm wine were serially diluted using distilled water. Enumeration of mycoflora was carried out on potato dextrose agar using pour plate technique. Cultural and morphological characteristics were employed to identify the fungi isolated. The cellulolytic activity of the fungal isolates was determined by the formation of clear zones around colonies on Capek dox agar with carboxymethyl cellulose, using Congo red as an indicator. The fungal counts ranged from 0.02±0.00-1.27±0.88 x106 Cfu/ml. All fungi isolated were strains of saccharomyces cerevisiae. The cellulolytic activity of saccharomyces cerevisiae was determined by diameter of clear zones ranged from 10.00±0.00- 23.33=8.81mm. This investigation has revealed that cellulolytic yeasts are an important component in palm wine preparation. Microbial cellulolytic enzymes find many applications in various industries from pulp and paper to breweries and from textile to waste management. Hence many studies on process optimization to improve the economics of cellulase production should be conducted.
