Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Agricultural Residues using Indigenous Laccase producing Fungi (Albifimbria viridis) as Herbicides

Background and Objective: Discarded as wastes, parts of the agricultural products can be used for feed productivity as well as management of animal feed production. Production of various products is possible using appropriate processing. The objective of the present study was to use laccase of Albifimbria viridis in degradation of agricultural residues and to produce compounds with herbicide properties. Material and Methods: The fungi were isolated from agricultural soils. The isolates were identified using morphological detection and PCR amplification of the internal transcribed spacer. Supernatants were collected from semi-solid cultures and laccase activity was assessed using 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) substrate. This was carried out using n-hexane and degradation of the agricultural residues was investigated using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Results and Conclusion: Growth of the fungal isolate in culture media with tannic acid was studied using scanning electron microscopy. In total, the isolate produced 50 U ml(-1) laccase. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analyses revealed production of oxime, methoxy-phenyl and 2-cyclopenten-1-one for tannic acids, o-guaiacol, tetradecane, hexadecane, octadecane, octadecanoic acid, hexadecanoic acid and benzene, 1,3-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl) for sorghum seeds and 2-acetyl-5-methylfuran, phenol, 2-methoxy and benzene, 1,2-dimethoxy for wheat straw during fungal growth (0.73 mg ml(-1)). Results have shown that the laccase enzyme produced from Albifimbria viridis native strain is capable of hydrolytic cleavage of chemical pollutants from agricultural wastes for herbicide bioremediation.