After raw shrimp wastes were deposited
on a forest soil at Thayang district, Petchaburi
province and on the soil at Kasetsart University,
Thailand for two weeks, the soil samples were
taken to isolate the chitosanolytic enzymes
producing microorganisms. The total count of
viable cells from 3.3¥104 to 7.2¥105 CFU/g and
the total count of viable cells forming clear zone
around the colony accounted from 3.0¥103 to
4.1¥105 CFU/g. The ratio of total viable cells to
the cells that formied clear zone around the
colonies ranged from 1.5 to 11.0 (Table 1). Among
them, total 183 colonies of soil contaminated
microorganisms were isolated and used to screen
for the high chitosanolytic enzymes producing
strains.