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The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of diet supplementations on biochemical, hematological, and redox metabolism parameters in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Healthy male Wistar rats and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats were provided diets supplemented with 20% of Pinus sp. sawdust or Pycnoporus sanguineus mycelium for 4 weeks. Diabetic rats treated with both Pinus sp. sawdust- and P. sanguineus mycelium-supplemented diets presented a significant decrease in non-HDL cholesterol of 38.43% and 33.53% and triglycerides of 70.03% and 69.81%, respectively, compared to diabetic control. As far as we know, this is the first report of a significant decrease in serum lipids attributed to these supplementations. Even though with the alterations in hematological and redox metabolism parameters related to these diet treatments, our data suggest that Pinus sp. sawdust and Pycnoporus sanguineus mycelium could be a useful a diet supplement to control diabetic dyslipidemia in animals. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Pinus sp. sawdust is a residue from the wood industry that can be reused as a substrate to cultivate Pycnoporus sanguineus mycelium. Both species have specific and rich natural compounds. The results of the present study surprisingly showed that diets supplemented with the isolated substrate (Pinus sp. sawdust) and Pycnoporus sanguineus mycelium significantly decrease non-HDL cholesterol and triglycerides in induced diabetic animal model. These new natural approaches can be interesting to develop a nutraceutical to treat dyslipidemia.

The main limitation to the industrial scale hydrolysis of cellulose is the cost of cellulase production. This study evaluated cellulase and xylanase enzyme production by the cellulolytic mutantPenicillium echinulatum9A02S1 using pretreated sugar cane bagasse as a carbon source. Most cultures grown with pretreated bagasse showed similar enzymatic activities to or higher enzymatic activities than cultures grown with cellulose or untreated sugar cane bagasse. Higher filter paper activity (1.253 ± 0.147 U·mL−1) was detected in the medium on the sixth day of cultivation when bagasse samples were pretreated with sodium hydroxide, hydrogen peroxide, and anthraquinone. Endoglucanase enzyme production was also enhanced by pretreatment of the bagasse. Nine cultures grown with bagasse possessed higherβ-glucosidase activities on the sixth day than the culture grown with cellulose. The highest xylanase activity was observed in cultures with cellulose and with untreated sugar cane bagasse. These results indicate that pretreated sugar cane bagasse may be able to serve as a partial or total replacement for cellulose in submerged fermentation for cellulase production usingP. echinulatum,which could potentially reduce future production costs of enzymatic complexes capable of hydrolyzing lignocellulosic residues to form fermented syrups.

The present work investigated the use of sorbitol as a soluble carbon source, in association with cellulose, to produce cellulases and xylanases in submerged cultures of Penicillium echinulatum 9A02S1. Because cellulose is an insoluble carbon source, in cellulase production, there are some problems with rheology and oxygen transfer. The submerged fermentations containing media composed of 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1% (w/v) sorbitol and cellulose that were added at different times during the cultivation; 0.2% (w/v) soy bran; 0.1% (w/v) wheat bran; and a solution of salts. The highest filter paper activity (FPA) ( IU·mL−1) was obtained on the seventh day in the medium containing 0.5% (w/v) sorbitol and 0.5% (w/v) cellulose added 24 h after the start of cultivation. However, the CMCases showed an activity peak on the sixth day ( IU·mL−1) in the medium containing 0.75% (w/v) sorbitol and 0.75% (w/v) cellulose added after 12 h of cultivation. The xylanases showed the highest activity in the medium with 0.75% (w/v) sorbitol and 0.25% (w/v) cellulose added 36 h after the start of cultivation. This strategy enables the reduction of the cellulose concentration, which in high concentrations can cause rheological and oxygen transfer problems.