A Statistical Approach for Production Improvement of a Neutral Protease From a Newly Isolated Strain of Aeromonas Hydrophila

Abstract

Neutral proteases have a large variety of industrial applications. Therefore, the optimization of their production for the large-scale commercial purpose is critical. The present study was aimed to the optimization of nutritional and physical conditions affecting neutral protease production of Aeromonas hydrophila MSB16, not previously reported for this genus. Four key determinants (pH, temperature, glucose and peptone concentration), were selected based on the results of the one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) method and then optimized by the response surface methodology (RSM). Maximum enzyme production (229.72 U/ml) which was 2.3 folds higher than that of the OFAT method (99.25 U/ml) and 3.15 times higher than unoptimized conditions (72.86 U/ml) was observed at 30 °C, pH 7, 4.5% w/v glucose and 4.5%w/v peptone by using a rotatable central composite design (RCCD). The results showed that the OFAT and RSM strategies were a useful screening and optimization methods for enhancing the protease production of the strain MSB16, respectively.