GARGI MUKHERJEE AND R. BANERJEE
Abstract
Solid-state fermentation (SSF) of fruits of myrobalan (Terminalia chebula) by the filamentous fungus Aspergillus foetidus (GMRB013 MTCC 3557) yielded high amounts of the industrially important enzyme tannase. The effects of the different fermentation conditions were studied, and the optimum levels determined. Powdered myrobalan fruits of particle size (05mm) mixed with modified Czapek-dox medium in (1:1) ratio at an initial pH of 5.0 were required for the maximum tannase yield. The other optimum conditions were incubation of 20g substrate inoculated with 2m1 of an induced fungal inoculum at 30°C and 75% relative humidity for 72 h. The experimental data of tannase yield (T) were processed to obtain an empirical correlation between the fermentation parameters and the yields of tannase and there is good agreement between T (experimental) and T (predicted), giving a correlation co-efficient (r) of 0.926.