which was maintained in an orbital shaker (Tecnal – TE420) at 30◦C, 200 rpm for 24 h. Thereafter, samples were taken from the inoculum culture media, cell concentration was measured by absorbance (at 600 nm) and the dry cell concentration was determined with a calibration curve. Then, the cells were centrifuged and washed with sterile distilled water to be used as inoculum