J. Raja Brindha, T. Selva Mohan, G. Immanual, S. Jeeva and N. C. J. Packia Lekshmi
Tomato, one of the most important vegetable in many countries has a worldwide economic and nutritive importance. It contains an energy value of 20 kcal per 100 grams of edible product. Quality of tomato fruits could be reduced by various diseases in the field. Fungi are responsible for spoilage of the fruits during storage. Fungi are very good sources of producing diverse enzymes that can degrade natural polymeric compounds such as cellulose, pectin and starch. The present study was under taken to isolate an efficient enzyme producing microorganisms from the spoiled tomato. Three different isolates were isolated from the spoiled tomato and screened for enzyme activity. In submerged fermentation the production of amylase by Aspergillus sp reached maximum 48U/ml at 72 hrs of incubation period. The production of cellulase by Trichoderma sp reached its maximum of 42 U/ml at 72 hrs. In solid state fermentation the production of amylase by Aspergillus sp reached maximum 108U/ml at 72 hrs of incubation period. The production of cellulase by Trichoderma sp reached its maximum of 56 U/ml at 72 hrs. These enzymes have commercial application in various industries such as starch, detergents, food, textiles, animal feed, pulp and paper, leather, chemical and biomedical products.
