Background: At present, cellulases are the most important enzymes worldwide, and their demand has been increasing in the industrial sector owing to their notable hydrolysis capability.

Results: In the present study, contrary to conventional techniques, three physical parameters were statistically optimized for the production of cellulase by thermophilic fungi by using response surface methodology (RSM). Among all the tested thermophilic strains, the best cellulase producing fungus was identified as Talaromyces thermophilus – both morphologically and molecularly through 5.8S/ITS rDNA sequencing. The central composite design (CCD) was used to evaluate the interactive effect of the significant factors. The CCD was applied by considering incubation period, pH, and temperature as the model factors for the present investigation. A second-order quadratic model and response surface method revealed that the independent variables including pH 6, temperature 50 °C, and incubation period 72 h significantly influenced the production of cellulases. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that the established model was significant (P ≤ 0.05) and showed the high adequacy of the model. The actual and predicted values of CMCase and FPase activity showed good agreement with each other and also confirmed the validity of the designed model.

Conclusions: We believe the present findings to be the first report on cellulase production by exploiting Kans grass (Saccharum spontaneum) as a substrate through response surface methodology by using thermophilic fungus, Talaromyces thermophilus.