Cold active alpha amylase from a psychrophilic bacterial isolate

In the present study an attempt was made to isolate a novel psychrophilic bacterial strain producing cold active alpha amylase. Among the 16 isolates observed on starch agar plate, six showed zone of hydrolysis on treatment with Gram’s iodine. Out of these 6 isolates, isolate KS-5 gave maximum alpha amylase production. During optimization of production conditions, 6 days old inoculum at a concentration of 0.5% gave maximum production of α-amylase when the inoculated production medium was incubated for 96 h. The isolate gave maximum production of α-amylase in medium 5 with starch as carbon source at a concentration of 9%. Approximately 2-fold increase in activity was observed after the optimization of above parameters, further on complete optimization of production conditions, a great increase in amylase production can be achieved. The properties of this cold active α-amylase suggest its usefulness in commercial sectors.