Characterization of Protease Production Efficiency of Bacteria Present in the Poultry Farm Soil

Proteases are widely used in food processing industries for the partial digestion of protein present in food stuff. These proteases could potentially be used in the food processing industries for the partial digestion of proteinaceous food stuffs like meat tenderization and partial digestion of baby food. Present research work has been focused on the characterization of protease production efficiency of bacteria present in the soil of poultry farm of Bilaspur city. A total thirty bacterial strains were isolated from domestic poultry farm, Bilaspur (22.09N 82.15E). Among thirty bacterial strains, the four bacterial strains were selected by qualitative screening on the basis of clear zone. Further all four bacterial strains were screened for their specific protease activity. The two significant protease producing bacterial strains viz. PDB-2 and PDB-24 were identified as Bacillus sp. PDB-2 and Bacillus sp. PDB-24 and they represented 91 % similarity to Bacillus licheniformis and 94 % similarity to Bacillus cereus respectively on the basis of morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics. Specific Protease activity of Bacillus sp. PDB-2 and Bacillus sp. PDB-24 were observed 32.47 0.60 and 28.920.58 (mole min-1 mg-1 SD) respectively under an un-optimized condition. Bacillus sp. PDB-2 showed maximum specific protease activity and after optimization, the specific protease activity was found to be increased by 1.27-fold (from 32.47 0.60 to 41.52 1.56 mol min1mg1 SD) at 450C (pH-8.5) for 96 h. Bacterial-derived proteases having significant activity could potentially be used in the food processing industries for the partial digestion of protein complexes present in the edible food-stuffs to increase its digestibility inside the human body.