TEMPERATURE DEPENDENT BIOCONVERSION OF WASTE PAPER BY GARDEN SNAIL (CORNU ASPERSUM) CELLULASE INTO GLUCOSE A FEEDSTOCK FOR BIO-PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

The global production of solid waste and lack of its management is a concern for many global populations. Also of major concern is the production of fossil fuel-based materials and substances such as medicines. Another unease observation is the destructive action of garden snails on plant materials, of which many are found in gardens and fields of farmers. The search, however, continues for procedures that could contribute to the production of bio-based products such as bio-medicines as well as actions to limit the production of solid waste, which is a major contributor to environmental pollution. Glucose a fermentable sugar, has been identified as an important feedstock for the synthesis of many bio-products. Cellulose a glucose-based biopolymer, and structural components of paper material can be degraded into glucose by cellulase a hydrolytic enzyme system. The cellulolytic action of garden snails has been used to saccharify various waste papers at different incubation temperatures, and the optimum sugar formation from these materials and % saccharification of each paper material was determined. Optimum degradation of office paper, newspaper, filter paper, Pick ’n Pay paper, filter paper, Woolworth’s paper, and brown envelope paper was recorded at temperatures of 30 ⁰C, and 40 ⁰C whilst the extent of degradation differs with brown envelope paper exhibiting the highest degree of degradation producing a sugar concentration of 9.67 mg.ml^-1 at an incubation temperature of 30 ⁰C and 18% saccharification. The lowest degree of saccharification at optimum incubation temperature was at 30 ⁰C when newspaper produced a sugar concentration of 1.71 mg.ml^-1 and 7.6% saccharification, respectively.