Industrial Enzyme Formulation and Applications Volume-I

Microbial proteases constitute approximately 60% of the total worldwide production of enzymes. They have diverse applications in a wide variety of industries, such as in detergent, food, pharmaceutical, leather, silk and for recovery of silver from used X-ray films. Of these, alkaline proteases are particularly important because they are both stable and active at high pH solutions and in the presence of surfactants and oxidizing agents. Their major application is in detergent industry, because the pH of laundry detergents is generally in the range of 9.0-12.0. The industrial demand of highly active preparations of proteolytic enzymes with appropriate specificity and stability to pH, temperature, metal ions and surfactants continues to stimulate the search for new enzyme sources. Based on the above mention requirements, present study was initiated with the objectives of isolation, purification, biochemical and pharmaceutical characterization of high-titer alkaline protease producing bacteria from North East India.