Production of L-Asparaginase from Natural Substrates by Aspergillus terreus MTCC 1782: Effect of Substrate, Supplementary Nitrogen Source and L-Asparagine

In the present work, the fungal species Aspergillus terreus MTCC 1782 was used for the production of L-asparaginase using natural substrates like groundnut oil cake, cottonseed oil cake and corn flour in modified Czepak-Dox media and compared the L-asparaginase production using synthetic L-proline. The modified Czepak-Dox media with 2% L-proline, supplemented with 1% sodium nitrate and 1% L-asparagine has shown maximum L-asparaginase activity of 34.98 IU/mL on the third day of production. The modified Czepak-Dox media with 2% groundnut oil cake, 1% sodium nitrate and 1.2% L-asparagine showed maximum L-asparaginase activity of 30.35 IU/mL on the fourth day. These results are comparatively higher than the maximum L-asparaginase production reported in the literature (19.5 U/mL), by isolated Aspergillus sp. using Czepak-Dox media containing 2% (w/v) L-asparagine as the sole substrate along with 1% (w/v) ammonium sulfate as an additional nitrogen source. It is observed that the addition of L-proline or ground nut oil cake increases the L-asparaginase production. The groundnut oil cake is found as the potential natural and cheaper substrate for L-asparaginase production by Aspergillus terreus MTCC1782.