Production optimization,purification, and characterization of a novel acid protease from a fusant by Aspergillus oryzae and Aspergillus niger

The production of a novel acid protease was enhanced by 44 % through statistical optimization. The cultural parameters, such as inoculum size, temperature, moisture content, and incubation time, were 8.59 × 10⁵ g^?1 dry koji, 31 °C, 57 %, and 86 h, respectively. This novel acid protease was purified by 17 folds with a recovery yield of 33.56 % and a specific activity of 4,105.49 U mg^?1. Far-UV circular dichroic spectra revealed that this purified protease contained 7.1 % α-helix, 64.1 % β-sheet, and 32 % aperiodic coil. This novel acid protease was active over the temperature range of 35–55 °C with optimum temperature of 40 °C and was stable in the pH range of 2.5–6.5 with optimum pH of 3.5. Mn²⁺ enhanced its activity while Co²⁺ showed inhibitory effect. With casein as substrate, the kinetic parameters of K _m, V _max, energy of activation (E _a), and attenuation index of inactivation velocity by heat inducing (λ) were 0.96 mg mL^?1, 135.14 μmol min^?1 mg^?1, 64.11 kJ mol^?1, and 0.59, respectively.