Screening for lipase activity in Trichoderma sp. isolated from Lumnitzera racemosa

Abstract

Microbes are the major sources of lipases where of late, marine and aquatic microbes have become alternative sources to their terrestrial counterparts. In this study, the ability to produce lipase by Trichoderma sp. which was previously isolated from mangroves was investigated. The fungal culture was grown in tryptone broth and extracellular lipase was assayed for its activity using the cupric acetate-pyridine colorimetric method. In the optimization of the assay, the effect of amount of enzyme was investigated where 1.0 mg showed the highest hydrolytic activity on olive oil as substrate, compared to 0.2 mg and 2.0 mg. In order to optimize the production of lipase, three growth parameters were studied: incubation time (24, 48 and 72 hours)..