Alpha-amylase production by toxigenic fungi.

This study is concerned with the screening of Alternaria alternata (Fr.) Keissler and Alternaria tenuissima (Kunze ex Pers.) Wilts strains for the biosynthesis of alpha-amylases. Nine strains of A. alternata and three strains of A. tenuissima were grown on enzyme production medium (EPM) and potato dextrose agar (PDA) using three pH levels (4.5-6.5); then the selected strains, able to produce bigger zones of starch hydrolysis on solid media, were subjected the testing of their amylolytic efficacy in liquid medium. In primary screening, the amylolytic activity of all the strains was tolerant to a wide range of initial culture pH values (4.5-6.5). Of all the cultures tested, A. alternata strains FCBP-100 and FCBP-385, and A. tenuissima strains FCBP-183 and FCBP-252 exhibited the maximum potential in terms of starch hydrolysis at pH 4.5 on EPM, and hence were selected for further studies. In secondary screening, the optimum pH of fermentation medium was adjusted to 4.5 using 0.05 M citrate buffer for the estimation of amylolytic enzyme activities. At 48 h incubation, the maximum alpha-amylase activity (31.8 units mL(-1)) was discerned by A. tenuissima strain FCBP-252.