PRODUCTION, CHARACTERIZATION AND PURIFICATION OF ALKALINE PROTEASE FROM ALCALIGENES sp., AND ITS APPLICATION IN DETERGENT INDUSTRY

Proteases are enzymes well known for their wide range industrial applications such as food, detergent, pharmaceutical etc. The aim of the present work was to study the production, purification and application of alkaline protease from the strain Alcaligenes sp. (MTCC 9730). Batch and fed batch fermentation were used as the production strategies. The optimum temperature and pH for the production of enzyme was found to be 55°C and pH 9 respectively. Ca2+ increased the activity, Cu2+ and Mg2+ mildly inhibited and by Zn2+ strongly inhibited the activity. The protease enzyme was purified using Ammonium sulphate precipitation and maximum activity of 60 U/ml was found at 70percent saturation. Alkaline protease is known to be an active ingredient of the commercial detergents. The enzyme was used to study its compatibility with other detergents and its ability to remove the protein stain. Keywords: Alkaline protease, Alcaligenes sp, fermentation, purification, detergent