Science Letters

Isolation of bacterial species capable of hydrolyzing pectin

Qurat-ul-Ain Hanif*, Mawra Gohar, Hafza Raahat Farooq, Saba Asif, Fatima Bajwa, Sana Moin, Kiran Batool

Department of Microbiology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan

Abstract: At present, almost all the pectinolytic enzymes used for industrial applications are produced by fungi. There are a few reports of pectinase production by bacterial strains. In the present study, bacterial strains isolated from rotten citrus fruit samples, were screened for polygalacturonase production. Rotten fruit samples were randomly collected which had high amounts of pectin in their peels. Using Kirby Bauer method, two Bacillus strains capable of hydrolyzing pectin were screened Both strains showed good polygalacturonase activity at neutral pH; hence, it would be potentially useful to increase the yield of banana, grape or apple juices, or at alkalinity, it can be used in the textile industry for the retting and degumming of fiber crops, production of good quality paper, fermentation of coffee and tea, oil extractions and treatment of pectin waste water treatment.

Key Words: Pectin, rotten samples, Kirby Bauer method.

Received August 5, 2013 Revised October 14, 2014 Published online first November 18, 2014

*Corresponding author: Qurat-ul-Ain Hanif Email: micro32uvas@gmail.com Phone: 0092-331-4270-195 Fax: 0092-42-35881045