Abstract

Water samples and sediments were collected from waterways in between two back water lakes namely Vambanad and Asthamudi, in Alukadavu, Kollam along the west coast of Kerala, India. 20 fungal species were isolated and identified by lacto phenol cotton blue staining method. From this, Aspergillus flavus was selected for starch hydrolysis Agar Medium for amylase activity under submerged fermentation for amylase production. The effect of different carbon source, nitrogen source, heavy metals, amino acids, dry biomass was studied and enzyme was optimized by using different physico-chemical parameters. The purity of enzyme was analyzed by thin layer chromatography. Minimal medium with starch has produced high amylase enzyme and soluble protein dry biomass with a temperature of 30°C and pH of 6, which includes 256.2 and 108 µg/ml, respectively.

Key words: Amylase enzyme, back water fungi, Aspergillus flavus, submerged fermentation, SDS-PAGE, Ion exchange chromatography.