ISOLATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF PROTEASE- PRODUCING BACILLUS STRAIN FROM COLD CLIMATE SOIL AND OPTIMIZATION OF ITS PRODUCTION BY APPLYING DIFFERENT FERMENTATION CONDITIONS

Proteases have received a lot of attention in recent years thanks to their use in a variety of industries, including the food, feed, leather, textile, and pharmaceutical sectors. The soil sample from a cold climate was used in the current experimental study of protease production. In order to identify the protease-producing bacterial species, morphological, physiological, and biochemical analyses were carried out, and the isolated bacterial strain's ability to produce proteases on skim milk agar was assessed. As a result of casein hydrolysis, a zone formed surrounding the bacterial colony suggested a protease-positive strain. To increase the production of protease by isolated Bacillus species, various sources of nitrogen and carbon were examined. Yeast extract (309.32 IU/ml) was the nitrogen source that supported growth the best among the other sources studied, and fructose (269.4 IU/ml) was the carbon source that produced the most protease activity. The fermentation time of 72 h (393.7033 IU/ml) was anticipated to be the best setting for protease synthesis. When 2% (w/v) soybean meal was employed, protease activity was measured at 494.92 IU/ml. The influence of pH was investigated, and it was discovered that 7.5 was the best and optimal pH for Bacillus species to produce 511 IU/ml of protease. When the temperature range was discovered to be 40 degrees C, the highest protease activity of 542.93 IU/ml was recorded.