ISSN: 2577-4360
Authors: Osuoha JO, Nwaichi EO*, Egwim EC and Abbey BW
For enhanced production of lipase by a saprotrophic fungal strain: Aspergillus flavus, optimization of selected environmental conditions and fermentation medium were performed using response surface methodology and factorial design. The results from factorial design reveal that agitation, substrate concentration, temperature and pH were the crucial elements affecting the production of lipase. The optimum medium conditions obtained for lipase production using response surface methodology were agitation of 150 rpm, substrate concentration of 2.75% v/v, temperature of 45ºC and pH 8.5. This model was authenticated by replicating the experiment under the established conditions, which led to maximum expression of lipase by the organism to 5.05 U/mg (predicted response 4.91 U/mg), hence substantiating the reliability of the model. Unexplored Aspergillus flavus strain isolated from crude oil contaminated soils was used for this study. This study underscores the capability of Aspergillus flavus, for lipase production and highlights the practicability of response surface methodology for the optimization of environmental conditions and fermentation medium for enhanced production of lipase.
Keywords: Aspergillus flavus; Central composite design (CCD); Lipase production; Response surface methodology
