Abstract: In this paper, the potential of oil palm frond (OPF) juice as an alternative and renewable carbon source to replace the function of glucose to produce volatile compounds by Ceratocystis fimbriata will be reported. The OPF juice was extracted using simple physical separation method. The growths of fungi were monitored by using cell dry weight (CDW) method whereby the characterization of sugar composition and consumption of the OPF juice by Ceratocystis fimbriata were carried out using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The volatile organic compounds were separated and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) with solid phase micro extraction (SPME). On the fourth day, the biomass produced by Ceratocystis fimbriata increased significantly and produced the highest number of products comprising of 3 alcohols, 2 esters, 1 aldehyde, 1 fatty acid, 1 phenol and 1 ketone. Based on the GC-MS analysis, several volatile compounds namely aldehydes, alcohols, ketones, and esters could be produced from OPF juice supplemented with a mineral salt medium. This result shows the potential usage of OPF juice as substrates for the growth and production of volatile organic compounds by Ceratocystis fimbriata.
Citation: Nadzri NNAL, Zahari MAKM, Tajuddin SN, Mohd CMAC. 2018. Production of volatile organic compounds using palm frond juice as a sole substrate by Ceratocystis fimbriata. Malaysia Journal of Analytical Sciences, 22(4):684-692.