DOI: 10.36347/sajb.2020.v08i05.002

Pages: 118-126

The aspect of this work is to produce extracellular protease enzyme which could be applicable in Leather industries worldwide. Protease is an extra cellular proteolytic enzyme that hydrolyzes proteins into amino acids. The isolated strain with high protease yields was optimized with respect to growth media, inoculum concentration and agitation speed. Maximum protease production occurred in Wheat flour Skim milk (WS) medium containing Wheat flour, (1%w/v); Skim milk powder, (1%w/v); NaCl (0.5%w/v), and initial inoculum concentration of 6% (v/v) at 140 rpm shaking conditions and at 72 hours. The optimum pH and temperature for protease activity was assayed using casein as a substrate dissolved in buffers with pH ranging from 4.0 to 10.0 at different temperatures from 250C to 750C. The crude protease showed maximum enzyme activity at pH 9.0 in 0.1 M Carbonate-bicarbonate buffer at 400C. This activity was considerably maintained for 1hour. The enzyme exhibited remarkable stability in the presence of SDS and Triton X-100. The application study suggested that the crude enzyme could be effectively used to remove hair from goat skin indicating its potential in Leather processing industry.