Use of cheese whey as a substrate to produce manganese peroxidase by Bjerkandera sp BOS55

Manganese peroxidase, MnP, is one of the major ligninolytic enzymes produce d by a number of white-rot fungi. The ability of this enzyme to degrade lig nin by the fungus Bjerkandera sp BOS55 has opened its application to relate d bioprocesses such as recalcitrant-compound degradation and effluent decol orization. The medium reported to induce MnP production is composed of chem ical grade reagents, all with relatively high costs for application to deto xification purposes. The use of inexpensive sources for MnP production can bring its implementation closer. For this purpose, dairy residues from chee se processing were considered. MnP production obtained using crude whey as the sole substrate reached appreciable levels, around 190 U L-1, values com parable to those found with synthetic media (between 175-250 U L-1). Thus, this cheese-processing byproduct can be used as an inexpensive alternative for the large-scale production of MnP.