International Journal of Biotechnology & Biochemistry

Pectinases are a group of hydrolyzing enzymes that catalyses the breakdown of pectin containing substances and can be produced by both submerged and solid state fermentation methods. Pectinases play an important role in food processing and beverage industry. The present work aims at studying different substances such as wheat flour and corn flour compared with standard commercial synthetic pectin for the production of pectinases using Aspergillus fumigatus MTCC 870. The work involves optimizing various parameters like substrate concentration, pH, temperature, time of fermentation and agitation speed for the production of pectinase. The work also aims at studying the effect of carbon sources by selecting the substrate (natural) which synthesized the maximum amount of pectinase. The experimental studies shows that maximum synthesis of pectinase (5.78 U/mL) was obtained with wheat flour as substrate by submerged fermentation using A. fumigatus MTCC 870 and starch as an additional carbon source which is comparable with the standard synthetic pectin (6.3 U/mL). The optimal concentration and operation conditions are found to be substrate concentration (1%), agitation speed 160 rpm, pH 5.5, temperature 30 C and starch as additional carbon source.