Full Length Research Paper

Production of lipase and biomass by Staphylococcus simulans grown on sardinella (Sardinella aurita) hydrolysates and peptone

Nabil Souissi¹*, Ali Bougatef², Yosra Triki-ellouz² and Moncef Nasri²

¹Laboratoire de Biodiversité et Bitechnologie Marine, Institut National des Sciences et Technologies de la Mer, Tunisia.

²Laboratoire de Génie Enzymatique et de Microbiologie, Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Sfax, Tunisia.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: Nabil.souissi@gmail.com. Tel: +216 22 95 08 54. Fax: +216 74 49 79 89.

Accepted 24 July, 2008

Fish protein hydrolysates from low cost fish species (Sardinella aurita) were prepared and tested as carbon and nitrogen sources for microbial growth and lipase production by Staphylococcus simulans. When cultivated in media containing Whole Sardinella Hydrolysate (WSH) or Meat Sardinella Hydrolysate (MSH), lipase production was significantly low, 5 and 10 U/ml, respectively. However, lipase production was strongly enhanced when partially defatted sardinella hydrolysate was used and highest lipase production was obtained with Partially Defatted Meat sardinella Hydrolysate (PDMSH) (55 U/ml), higher than that obtained with tryptone as nitrogen source. Peptone from sardinella was also prepared and compared with a tryptone from casein and other fish peptones. The results revealed that sardinella peptone is a good substrate for the growth of S. simulans.

Key words: Staphylococcus simulans, culture media, Sardinella aurita, sardinella protein hydrolsates, sardinella peptone, lipase.