ABSTRACT
Lipases with their multifarious applications in a wide variety of fields are gaining the attention of industrial biotechnologists thus necessitating the need for screening new isolates with potential industrial applications. In the present study Taguchi DOE was employed to optimize the process parameters for lipase production by Emericella nidulans DAOM 222012, screened and isolated from Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) dump sites. This method allows the simultaneous study of several cultural factors while considering the mutual interaction among them and enhances the production within few experimental runs thereby greatly reducing the cost and time for process optimization. Four factors Viz., pH, carbon, nitrogen and surfactants each at 5 levels were considered and an orthogonal layout of L25 (54) was performed. The results indicated that Maltose (1%), Yeast extract (1%), Tween 80 (0.5%) and pH 6 are the significant factors for lipase production by Emericella nidulans DAOM 222012 using submerged fermentation studies.