SCREENING OF ENZYMES ACTIVITY OF BACTERIA ISOLATED FROM WATER SAMPLE OF PANCHOR HOT SPRING, SARAWAK

Microbial enzymes have been extensively used in a variety of applications. Its usage has been developed in multiple industry sectors such as textile, pharmaceutical and paper industry. Microorganisms, especially bacteria, possess important enzymes that are valuable to be used in multiple industries. There are less studies that have been done especially to determine the bacteria’s enzyme activity from Malaysia’s hot spring. Therefore, in this study the main goal is to evaluate the enzyme activity of bacteria isolated from water samples at Panchor Hot Spring. Two water samples were collected from the Panchor Hot Spring. The bacteria from the water samples were isolated and cultured in nutrient media agar. Screening of enzyme through starch hydrolysis shows five quadrants of isolated bacteria were proven to produce amylase by the clearance formation after the addition of Gram’s iodine. The optical density (OD) of each isolate enzyme was determined by using DNS method. Based on the obtained result, isolated bacteria fermented within 48 hours shows high amylase activity compared to isolated bacteria fermented within 72 hours