Beta-glucanase enzyme can degrade β-glucan polysaccharide to saccharide oligomers and glucose monomers. The enzyme can be used as biological control to degrade β-glucan in cell wall of fungal pathogens The objective of this study was to determine the optimum medium for bacterial β-glucanase production and to use the enzyme as biological control of oil palm pathogenic fungi. Medium optimization were carried out using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) with 18 experimental run of Central Composite Design (CCD) on three variables (oat β-glucan, yeast extract, and bacterial inoculum). The results showed that β-glucanase produced by Bacillus subtilis SAHA 32.6 was strongly influenced by bacterial inoculum size than oat β-glucan and yeast extract concentration. Beta-glucanase of optimized medium could inhibit the growth of oil palm pathogenic fungi, i.e Curvularia affinis and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. The ammonium sulphate fractionation of the β-glucanase could inhibit the fungi better than crude enzyme. The bacterial β-glucanase of B. subtilis SAHA 32.6 can be used as bio-fungicide to attack of pathogenic fungi in the oil palm nursery.
Key words: Bacterial inoculum, β-glucanase, Pathogenic fungi, Response Surface Methodology
|
