Phytase Production by Aspergillus niger

Fermentation is one of the industrially important processes for the development of microbial metabolites that has immense applications in various fields. This has prompted to employ fermentation as a major technique in the production of phytase from microbial source. In this study, a comparison was made between submerged (SmF) and solid-state fermentations (SSF) for the production of phytase from Aspergillus niger CFR 335 and Aspergillus ficuum SGA 01. It was found that both the fungi were capable of producing maximum phytase on 5th day of incubation in both submerged and solid-state fermentation media. Aspergillus niger CFR 335 and A. ficuum produced a maximum of 60.6 U/gds and 38 U/gds of the enzyme, respectively, in wheat bran solid substrate medium. Enhancement in the enzyme level (76 and 50.7 U/gds) was found when grown in a combined solid substrate medium comprising wheat bran, rice bran, and groundnut cake in the ratio of 2 : 1 : 1. A maximum of 9.6 and 8.2 U/mL of enzyme activity was observed in SmF by A. niger CFR 335 and A.ficuum, respectively, when grown in potato dextrose broth

PHYSICO-CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF RUSSIAN TEA FUNGUS: KOMBUCHA

Objective: To characterize various physicochemical parameters for Russian tea fungus: Kombucha. Methods: In the present investigation, various physicochemical analyses of kombucha such as, estimation of biomass, ascorbic acid, acetic acid, carotenoid contents, antioxidant activity and antibacterial activity against E. coli, Salmonella sp and Staphylococcus aureus were carried out after growing at different temperature and pH with varied concentrations of 5, 10, 15 and 20% tea powder boiled for 10 min along with 5% sugar and filtered to obtain tea decoction. Results: The bacteria in kombucha were Gram-negative, flexible rods. Both bacteria and yeast were positive for acid and gas production with glucose and sucrose and negative with lactose. A highest biomass content of 33.39 and 32.9 g/l in 5 and 10% tea decoction respectively was observed when grown statically at 25 °C and pH 5.0. Highest carotenoids (92.5 μg/ml) content was found at normal pH without setting, while 85 and 84 μg/ml at pH 4.5 and 5.0 respectively under static condition. A highest DPPH(2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) inhibition of 76.95% with IC50 value 3.26 mg/ml and ascorbic acid content of 33.19% were found with 5% tea at 25 °C and pH 4.5. Acetic acid, which was shown to be one of the antimicrobial agents in kombucha had the highest strength of 2.25 g/l in 5% tea grown at 25 °C and normal pH, while 4.5g/l at pH 4.5. The antibacterial activity showed the sensitivity of Escherichia Coli with 57% and Salmonella sp with 42.9% inhibition for kombucha grown at 25 °C and pH 4.5 when compared to positive control.Conclusion: Kombucha, a miracle drink can be exploited furthermore for human well-being through combating various health issues due to changing lifestyle