Coden: Ijpnl6 Production, Optimization and Characterization of Antimicrobial Compound from Aspergillus Sp

Fungi have been reported to be active producers of secondary metabolites. In this study, a fungal isolate (Aspergillus sp) isolated from soil has been evaluated for its antimicrobial activity. The activity was studied under various physio-chemical parameters, such as pH, temperature, incubation period, carbon and nitrogen sources. The best antimicrobial activity was observed in the production medium having pH 5-7, on fifth day of incubation at 25 oC when grown as static culture. Starch was the most promising carbon source, while yeast extract and soyabean meal acted as best nitrogen sources. Butanolic extract was comparable to standard antibiotics in contrast to aqueous extract. Response surface analysis showed that the antimicrobial activity was enhanced by 1.25 folds in S.aureus, 1.28 folds (S.epidermidis), 1.6 folds (K.pneumoniae 1), 1.37 folds (C.albicans), 1.38 folds (MRSA). Characterization of the purified compound responsible for antimicrobial activity was carried out by various analytical procedures i.e. TLC, HPLC, NMR and IR. MIC of the butanolic extract ranged from (0.016mg/ml-18mg/ml) while purified compound exhibited lower MIC value of 6μg/ml, 20 μg/ml and 20 μg/ml respectively for S.epidermidis, C.albicans and MRSA. VCC (Viable cell count) studies revealed E.coli to be the most sensitive and demonstrated 100% killing at 0 hr. Butanolic extract (crude) and the purified compound were found to be neither cytotoxic nor mutagenic.