Effect of temperature, pH, agitation and surface culture method
The optimum temperature for the production of pectic enzyme from this mould was 40°C (Fig. 3). There are variations in optimum temperature for pectic enzyme production from different species of Aspergillus. Hours et al. (1988) reported an optimum of 30°C for pectic enzyme production from A. foetidus while 37°C was optimal for another Aspergillus species reported by Aguilar and Huitron (1986). The fairly high temperature obtained in this study is a desirable property for an enzyme preparation that is commonly used in food processing industry.