The solid state cultivation of the filamentous fungus isolated from the nest of leaf-cutting ants of
the species Acromyrmex balzani was carried out, using lignocellulosic sorghum as a substrate
aiming at the maximum production of cellulases, through the optimization of the cultivation
process, evaluating the influence of the variables: initial concentration inoculum, humidity, time,
pH and temperature. The effects of the variables were first evaluated in terms of the activity of
the FPase enzyme, where humidity and time were statistically significant at 95%. In conditions of
greater time and humidity, the enzymatic activity decreases showing a negative effect. The other
variables did not show a statistically significant effect at 95% confidence. The greatest enzymatic
activities were provided by the combination of the variables of test 2, which presents humidity
60%, pH 4, incubation time of 4 days, initial inoculum concentration of 108 and temperature of
40oC. The significant variables were subsequently optimized. In the second part of the
experiment, the activity of the FPase enzyme showed the best response with the moisture
content of 60 and 75%, and the incubation time 4 to 6 days, with a maximum productivity of 4.1
IU / g. The CMCase activity showed maximum activity between 55 and 65% humidity and with
an incubation time of 5 to 8 days, reaching an enzymatic activity of 4.1 IU / g. As for Avicelase
activity, the highest production was with the moisture content around 65 and 80% and with the
incubation time of 2 to 5 days, reaching an enzymatic activity of 3.8 U / g. The activities
presented demonstrate an expressive cellulolytic capacity of the studied fungus, compared to
lignocellulosic sorghum.
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