OPTIMIZATION OF CARBON AND NITROGEN-SOURCES IN THE MEDIUM AND ENVIRONMENTAL-FACTORS FOR ENHANCED PRODUCTION OF CHITINASE BY TRICHODERMA-HARZIANUM

Statistical design was used to determine the optimal levels of medium components, the optimal initial pH of the enzyme production medium, th e temperature of fermentation, age of the organism in the slant growth and the age of the inoculum for the production of chitinase in shake flask fermentations. The use of high concentrations of chitin and ammo nium sulphate and exclusion of peptone and urea from the medium result ed in the production of higher level of the enzyme. The optimal concen trations of the medium components were 12.5 kg/m(3) and 4.2 kg/m(3) fo r the chitin and ammonium sulphate respectively. The effect of the add ition of peptone and urea to the optimized medium was studied. The opt imal values of initial pH and temperature were 5.6 and 28 degrees C re spectively. The optimal age of the slant and the inoculum were found t o be 105 h and 43 h respectively. The highest level of chitinase befor e optimization of the above variables was 0.054 U which was maximized to the level of 0.197 U.