Comparative study of alpha amylase producing mutated and unmutated Ba-cillus strains by taking cost effective measures

Abstract

Bacillus species is considered as most appropriate bacterial specie for extracellular production of alpha amylase at commercial level. The alpha amylase is in high demand in a lot of food, beverage, and textile industries. In recent years, researchers have made many attempts to scale up the production of alpha amylase by using various strategies. The current study deals with the isolation, identification of Bacillus species and evaluation of their alpha amylase activity by random mutagenesis. Amylase producing bacteria were isolated from soil sample and further categorized via 16S rRNA technique. Random mutagenesis technique (MNNG and UV radiation) was employed to enhance the production of an enzyme. Mutants were then assessed for alpha amylase production via solid state fermentation using different agro-industrial waste, i.e. potato peels, apple peels, banana peels, wheat bran and rice husk. Different parameters such as incubation temperature, incubation period and pH were optimized to obtain maximum yield. Optimum amylase production (207.84U/ml) was obtained after 48 hours of incubation at 37°C by using MNNG mutant and potato peels. This study reveals that Bacillus cereus has the potential of alpha amylase production. It further suggests that secretion of alpha amylase can further be maximized by improving the strain genetically and optimizing the fermentation conditions.