RESUMO
Nine Aspergillus and three of Trichoderma strains were grown on wheat bran [WB] medium under solid state fermentation [SSF] for amylase production. Aspergillus oryzae LS1 produced the highest level of the enzyme. The thermal stability profile of its crude enzyme revealed the half-life time of more than 2 h at 50 and 60°C. The enzyme production was affected by strain type, incubation periods, level of moisture content and carbon source supplementation. Maximum enzyme production of about 14249 IU/g WB was obtained under optimum conditions with an incubation period of 120 h, an initial moisture content of 54.5% and in the presence of sucrose [1 g/100g WB] at 30°C. Of substrates tested, soluble starch was the best one hydrolyzed by the crude enzyme. Corn starch, dextrin and potato starch were also hydrolyzed to a lesser extent. The enzyme exhibited maximum activity at 55°C. Moreover, the enzyme was also able to hydrolyze wheat flour under optimized conditions with efficiency of 89%