The production of constitutive invertase and inulinase by the mushroom Panaeolus papillonaceus in submerged culture

Abstract

Five different mushrooms were screened for extracellular inulinase and invertase activities. The enzymes were found to be produced constitutively by the mushrooms, but the carbon source, glucose, sucrose, and starch, in the medium influenced the production of individual enzymes. The highest producers of inulinase and invertase were Panaeolus papillonaceus growing in starch medium and Agaricus bisporus growing in glucose medium, respectively. A medium for the optimum production of invertase and inulinase by P. papillonaceus was developed by determining the optimum concentrations of suitable carbon and nitrogen sources. Some of the physicochemical properties of the enzymes present in the culture filtrate were studied. Both of the activities have pH optima at 6.5 and temperature optima at 60 °C. Km values for both enzyme activities were found to be identical at 2.5 mg of substrate/mL, whereas the νm for the inulinase activity was more than two times greater than that for invertase activity.