AN EXCELLENT TANNASE PRODUCTION SOURCE, ASPERGILLUS ACULEATUS KUSR2, UNDER SUBMERGED FERMENTATION

A sequential statistical strategy, utilizing Plackett-Burman’s factorial design with Design-Expert version 13.0.9, was employed to optimize tannase production from Aspergillus aculeatus KUSR2 in submerged fermentation. Three variables, incubation period, tannic acid concentration, and concentration of KH2PO4 were identified as the most significant parameters. It resulted in an enhanced tannase activity of 50.57(3.73) IU/mL compared to the predicted tannase activity of 49.81 I U/mL. The optimization via response surface methodology resulted in a 2.57-fold increase in tannase production as compared to the amount obtained by the ‘one-at-a-time’ approach. Results showed that the optimum conditions for tannase production by the mentioned source were 144 h of incubation time, tannic acid 2% (w/v) and KH2PO4 0.3 % (w/v). This optimization, achieved without genetic manipulation, enabled tannase production comparable to the best among published results to provide an excellent source of Tannase with commercial implications. Keywords: Tannin acyl hydrolase, Response surface, Optimization, Aspergillus, Submerged fermentation Statements and Declarations: The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript. Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Author Contribution: All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Rakhy Sreekumar and Abdulhameed Sabu. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Rakhy Sreekumar and Abdulhameed Sabu, all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.