ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF A HIGHLY THERMOSTABLE LPHA-AMYLASE ENZYME PRODUCED BY BACILLUS LICHENIFORMIS

Bacterial amylases play an important role in industrial production and contribute significantly to meet our commercial needs in a variety of ways. The present study was designed to report the isolation, identification and characterization of a thermostable α -amylase enzyme produced from a bacterium isolated from indigenous soil samples. The isolated bacterium was identified as Bacillus licheniformis and confirmed through a variety of morphological, biochemical and hydrolysis based tests. The isolated bacterium was cultured in amylase producing media and found to produce α -amylase at the rate of 92 U/ml after 24 h cultivation at pH 7.0 and at 100°C. Enzyme induction was found to be the highest utilizing potato starch followed by corn and wheat. The characterization of α -amylase was done to establish its suitability for industrial applications in starch processing and food manufacturing industries among others.