Fungal Protease Production by Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus flavus Using Rice Bran as the Substrate

Micro-organisms are capable of producing extracellular proteases that degrade proteins into amino acids to make their assimilation possible (Zouari et al., 1999). A large number of micro-organisms including bacteria, yeast and fungi produce different groups of enzymes. Selection of a particular strain, however, remains a tedious task, especially when commercially competent enzyme yields are to be achieved. For example, it has been reported that while a strain of Aspergillus niger produced 19 types of enzymes, alpha -amylase was being produced by as many as 28 microbial cultures. Proteases form large group of enzymes, ubiquitous in nature are found in a variety of micro-organisms.