Stimulatory Effect of Acid Hydrolysed Okara Fortified with L-Asparagine on Fungal L-Asparaginase Production by Aspergillus Terreus MTCC 1782

The insoluble fraction of soy bean wet processing namely okara was employed to investigate the suitability of okara or associated fractions of okara preparation or the hydrolysate made from okara, for their ability as substrate for L-Asparaginase production using A. terreus. Un-supplemented okara, hydrolysate of okara &soybean batter did not produce appreciable enzyme titters. Okara cake managed to give a maximum of 0.51 U/ml of L- Asparaginase activity on day 6. Fortification of okara or associated fractions (okara hydrolysate & soybean batter) with ammonium sulphate did not produce rise in enzyme titters. When okara cake was supplemented with 1.5% (w/v) ofL- Asparagine, theenzyme yield was increased by 23.63 folds in comparison with that of the unsupplemented control. For okara hydrolysate & soybean batter too induced levels of enzyme were observedupon supplementation with L-asparagine. For soybean batter this was 42.6 fold increase in activity and okara hydrolysate fortified with L-asparagine gave 63.89 U/ml of enzyme activity on day five as against 0.06U/ml for the unsupplemented control. The positive influence of L- asparagine fortification to okara hydrolysate was more pronounced till the percentage supplementation was up to 1.5%. Though additional supplementation of specific nitrogen source beyond 1.5% resulted in enhanced enzyme titters, the level of enhancement was not well pronounced.