The effect of process parameters in enhancement of lipase production by co-culture of lactic acid bacteria and their mutagenesis study

Microbial consortium of various microorganisms has been applied in many fields of biotechnology but its application for the production of lipase is yet to be explored more. The objective of this work was to select the best possible combination of lipase producing bacteria of Lactococcus lactis and Lactobacillus brevis, or Lactococcus lactis and Lactobacillus plantarum, or Lactobacillus brevis and Lactobacillus plantarum for the optimum production of this enzyme using olive oil as a substrate. The co-culture of Lactobacillus brevis and Lactobacillus plantarum produced highest activity of 37 U/ml than other organisms. All the cultures were subjected to UV, heat and EtBr mutagenesis. A few colonies were screened from the selected media for lipase study. Amongst all, the best mutant was isolated after 120 min of UV treatment where there is increase in number of colonies and enzyme activity.