Optimization Studies for the Production of Microbial Transglutaminase from a Newly Isolated Strain of Streptomyces sp.

Covalent cross-links between a number of proteins and peptides explain why transglutaminase may be widely used by food processing industries. The objective of this work was optimization of the fermentation process to produce transglutaminase from a new microbial source, the Streptomyces sp. P20. The strategy adopted to modify the usual literature media was: (1) fractional factorial design (FFD) to elucidate the key medium ingredients, (2) central composite design (CCD) to optimise the concentration of the key components. Optimization of the medium resulted in not only an 86% increase in microbial transglutaminase activity as compared to the media cited in the literature, but also a reduction in the production cost. Optimal fermentation conditions - namely temperature and agitation rate - were also studied, using CCD methodology. Usual conditions of $30^{\circ}C$ and 100 rpm were within the optimal area. All other parameters for enzyme production were experimentally proven to be optimum fermentation conditions.