Production of Invertase from Actinomycetes Isolated from Soils in Eliogbolo and Oyigbo, Rivers State using Submerged Fermentation Technique

The use of commercial sources of invertase for the production of High fructose syrup and other pharmaceutical formulations has been a problem due to its high ash content and cost implication, therefore there is a need to explore bacterial species that can produce invertase. In this study, actinomycetes strains were isolated from soils from a botanical garden, sugar cane sites and garden egg at Elogbolo and Oyigbo respectively. Yeast extract agar; Czapeks Dox agar and Arginine glycerol agar were used for the isolation of actinomycetes. The study showed that Czapeks Dox agar gave the highest population count followed by Yeast extract and Arginine glycerol agar. The dominated genus of actinomycetes observed were species of Streptomyces designated as OZMU 1; OZMU 2; OZMU 3 and OZMU 4. The results showed that the reducing sugar content of the Streptomyces sp. had similar reducing sugar liberation and consumption behavior without any lag phase, with OZMU 1 concentration peak at 12 h (0.12 g/l), and OZMU 3 (0.15 g/l). But OZMU 2 indicated a lag phase from 6-12h, increased from 12-24 h (0.18 g/l), but activity declined dramatically at 36 h and 48 h. The reducing sugar content for Streptomyces sp. OZMU 4 revealed longer lag phase, which was almost constant throughout the investigation period from 6-36 h. But at 48 h (0.06 g/l) a decline in the reducing sugar content was noticed compared to the other isolates, indicating that all the available reducing sugar were completely consumed by the other strains. The research work revealed the ability of indigenous actinomycetes strains to produce invertase enzyme which has high conversion efficiency and can be used in various pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries.