Ellagic acid an effective polyphenol antioxidant found in many fruits and vegetables. The antioxidant properties of
ellagic acid have incited preliminary research into the impending health benefits of ellagic acid consumption. In the
present research, an attempt is made to extract ellagic acid from pomegranate peels using solid state cultures of
Aspergillus niger, Rhizopus oryzae and mixed cultures of both. The fungus has the potential to convert ellagitannins in
pomegranate to ellagic acid as an intermediary metabolite. Test organisms were isolated from soil, identified and
screened for production of tannase enzyme. Solid state fermentation of pomegranate husk (10% w/v) using A. niger, R.
oryzae and mixed cultures was performed for the production of ellagic acid. Samples were collected daily from the
fermentation broth and physico-chemical analyses like changes in the total tannin content and tannase enzyme assay
were performed. After fermentation the production of ellagic acid in the medium was determined using HPLC. The
amount of ellagic acid produced was 9.1mg (for A.niger), 79.1mg (for R. oryzae), 69.6mg (for mixed culture of both A.
niger and R.oryzae).
BIOCONVERSION OF ELLAGITANNINS TO
ELLAGIC ACID FROM POMEGRANATE PEELS
BY SOLID-STATE FERMENTATION USING
ASPERGILLUS NIGER AND RHIZOPUS ORYZAE
