Abstract
In the present work the effect of three factors: pH, temperature and type of microorganism using a factorial design 3(2)x2 was evaluated on: growth, total cellulases hydrolytic activity (FPases), endoglucanases hydrolytic activity (CMCases), free reducing sugars (FRS), glucose, sucrose, and alcohol production using a culture medium based on mineral salts added with cladodes flour of Opuntia ficus-indica at 20% as the unique carbon source. Two wild microorganisms were used, Acinetobacter pittii a bacteria isolated from decaying cladodes, and Kluyveromyces marxianus a yeast isolated from termite stomach. The maximum hydrolytic activities were obtained with Acinetobacter pittii at 37 °C and pH 6.5 for total cellulases (0.67 ± 0.02 IU/ml) and for endoglucanases (0.23 ± 0.02 IU/ml) at 24 and 4 h. The maximum production of alcohol was 12.98 ± 0.06 g/L obtained with Kluyveromyces marxianus at 4 h with conditions of 40 °C and pH 5.5.