J. Gen. Appl. Microbiol., 46, 263–267 (2000)

from the sago palm is the starchy fibrous pith residue. This residue is abundantly and cheaply available especially in the state of Sarawak, Malaysia. It is usually washed off into drains or nearby streams together with wastewater, thus contributing to pollution load, or deposited in the factory’s compound, which can lead to serious environmental problems. It has no significant industrial or commercial use, except to a small extent as animal feed mainly for pigs and poultry (Yeong and Ali, 1982) or as a soil conditioner (Bintoro and Sianapar, 1993). Studies have shown that sago pith waste is composed mainly of starch and fiber, including a fair amount of minerals. The crude starch and crude fiber contents range from 41.7% to 65.0 and 14.8%, respectively (Wina et al., 1986). When the fibrous and starch component of the pith waste are considered, it is logical to find ways to utilize this waste. The cellulose and starch components both have a good potential for bioconversion into value-added products. An attractive and efficient means is through a biotechnological approach in which microbial strains are employed to degrade the sago waste. Microorganisms such as fungi and bacteria are known to play a major role in the degradation of cellulose and starch components (Coughlan, 1985). The breakdown of these components produce simple sugars that find many uses in the feed and fermentation industries. The first important step in this approach is to isolate and identify the microorganisms with the necessary characteristics as active cellulolytic and amylolytic microorganisms. Habitats that contain these substrates are the best sources in which to find these microorganisms. This paper described the screening and isolation of an indigenous Bacillus that is capable of degrading the substrates. The isolate was identified as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a B. amyloliquefaciens that can utilize the waste of sago palm. Three types of sago waste samples were collected for this study. First, pith residue, the final waste product from starch extraction, was obtained from a sago processing factory in the district of Pusa, Sarawak. Samples were collected around the discharge point at a distance of about 3 m from the factory. Second, partially decomposed fibrous waste comprising pith residue and bark was collected from around the same factory’s compound. Samples were collected by using a clean spade and placed in separate sterile plastic bags. Third, waste effluent samples were collected from a sago processing plant in Mukah, Sarawak. The wastewater containing a large amount of pith residue and some unseparated starch was collected from sevScreening and isolation of a cellulolytic and amylolytic Bacillus from sago pith waste