NEERAJ MISHRA AND LALIT KUMAR SINGH
Abstract
Among wide variety of enzymes, the proteolytic enzymes i.e., protease account for 60% of the industrial enzymes market. This work is carried out to check the effect of various media constituents on the acid protease production by submerged fermentation. The effect of different carbon sources (glucose, sucrose, lactose, and combination of lactose and sucrose) on the proteolytic activity of acid protease produced by Aspergillus awamori MTCC 548 was studied. With glucose, high proteolytic activity and maximum sugar utilization have been observed. The various concentrations of glucose (0.5 to 3%) were examined and 1% concentration was found to be optimum, showing proteolytic activity of 0.11 U/mL with 79% sugar utilization. Among different nitrogen sources such as casein, skim milk powder and peanut meal. The 2% peanut meal was found better for enzyme production with increased proteolytic activity of 0.216 U/mL with 80% sugar utilization. The effect of additives such as Tween -80 and chemicals like CaCl2 and skim milk powder on proteolytic activity was also studied and it was found that 0.05% Tween 80 was effective in the enzyme production with proteolytic activity of 0.227 U/mL and maximum sugar utilization of 95%.