Solid Culturing of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens for Alpha Amylase Production

Dhanya Gangadharan, Swetha Sivaramakrishnan, Kesavan Madhavan Nampoothiri and Ashok Pandey*

Biotechnology Division, Regional Research Laboratory, CSIR, Trivandrum 695019, India

Article history:
Received November 30, 2005
Accepted March 22, 2006

Key words:
alpha amylase, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, solid-state fermentation, agroresidues

Summary:
Fourteen different agroresidues were screened for alpha amylase production using Bacillus amyloliquefaciens ATCC 23842. Among them, wheat bran (WB) and groundnut oil cake (GOC) in mass ratio of 1:1 was proved as the best substrate source. Supplementation with 0.01 M KH₂PO₄ and 1 % soluble starch enhanced the enzyme yield considerably. Maximum enzyme recovery from the solid mass was obtained when extracted with 0.1 M acetate buffer, pH=5.0. Maximum enzyme titer expressed as units per mass of dry substrate obtained was 62 470 U/g after 72 hours of fermentation at 37 °C by using the above solid substrate mixture (5 g) with the initial moisture of 85 % and inoculated with Bacillus amyloliquefaciens of 2·10⁹ CFU/mL.

*Corresponding author:           ashokpandey56@yahoo.co.in , pandey@csrrltrd.ren.nic.in
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