Comparative evaluation of protease production from okara, broken wheat, chickpea and black gram by the soil isolate of Aspergillus terreus

Proteases, the enzymes that digest proteins, are present in all organism and play an essential role in proliferation and differentiation. They are crucial for different applications in industries like detergent, food, laundry and pharmaceutical. Proteases from bacteria and fungi have emerged as a salvation to the industrial sectors. In the presented work, protease producing Aspergillus terreus was grown from the field soil of Birring village, Jalandhar. Further, Aspergillus terreus was screened for growth on different substrates like Okara, Broken Wheat, Chick Pea and Black Gram. After, substrate selection, the solid-state fermentation was found to be an efficient method for enzyme production. Upon characterisation, the crude enzyme was found to be extracellular. The optimum enzyme activity was at pH of 10.0 and a temperature of 55oC. Also, Mn2+enhanced the enzyme activity. Thus, the low-cost substrate and effective protease activity, can make this enzyme as ideal candidate for various industrial applications.