Effect of surfactants on α-amylase production in a solid substrate fermentation process

✍ Scribed by Ana P Goes; John D Sheppard

• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 78 KB
• Volume: 74
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0268-2575
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-4660(199907)74:7<709::aid-jctb94>3.0.co;2-c

✦ Synopsis

Solid substrate fermentation (SSF) is a process where the substrate is a moist solid, which is insoluble in water but not suspended in water. In this study SSF of Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 21556) was used to produce an enzyme of commercial importance, a-amylase, using as a substrate potato peel. To enhance the production of this enzyme, two nonionic synthetic surfactants were used, Tween 80 and Tween 20, one anionic surfactant, SDS at concentrations of 0.05% and 0.10% (v/w) and a biosurfactant produced by Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 21332), known as surfactin, at concentrations of 0.003%, 0.007%, 0.013% and 0.03% (w/w). The results have shown that surfactants signi®cantly increase the production of a-amylase. Tween 80 at 0.10% and surfactin at 0.013% provided the highest enzyme activity when compared with the control.