Characterization of extracellular amylase produced by Aspergillus fumigatus isolated from rice husk waste dumpsite.

Abstract

Amylases are a class of enzymes (hydrolases) that are capable of digesting the glycosidic linkages found in starch or glycogen. In this study, Aspergillus fumigatus, isolated from a local rice husk waste dumpsite was used for the production of extracellular amylase enzyme. The optimum pH for the activity of the amylase produced was pH 7 with activity of (0.51mg/ml). Optimum temperature for amylase activity was 70C with an activity of (0.55mg/ml). Maximum amylase activity was attained after 144hours incubation period with activity of 1.42mg/ml. this study has shown that amylase produced by the isolated Aspergillus fumigatus may have practical applications in the starch industry. Further studies to purify and characterize the amylase complexes produced by this strain should be investigated.