پریسا فتحی رضایی

Pectinases as a complex group of enzymes hydrolyze the pectin substances to simpler molecules such as galacturonic acid. Pectinolytic enzymes are widely distributed in higher plants and microorganisms including bacteria, fungi and yeasts. They play important roles in plants during growth and evolution. They play major roles in modern biotechnology. Pectinases have been used in several conventional industrial processes; such as textile, plant fiber processing, tea, coffee, oil extraction, treatment of industrial wastewater, containing pectinacious material, etc. Abundant waste from agriculture and fruit processing industries including sugar beet pulp, apple and citrus pomace as rich source of pectin are employing to induce pectinase production by many microorganisms. In this investigation we evaluated production and activity of pectinase by Piriformospora indica by using sugar beet pulp (SBP) as a carbon source. P. indica was cultured on Kaefer medium supplemented with and without SBP and fungus growth and enzyme activity was measured for 10 days. The slurry was filtered, total protein content and pectinase activity determined by Bradford assay and DNS method respectively. One unite of pectinase activity was defined as the amount of enzyme that catalyzed the formation of 1 µmol galacturonic acid per min under the assay condition. According to the results higher biomass production and pectinase activity was detected 89.5 mg and 4.34 U/ml respectively in the presence of SBP at 6th day. In conclusion because of noticeable pectinase production by using sugar beet pulp by P. indica further investigations for its large scale production and purification are going on.