Background: Tannery soils are very rich in keratinous materials such as fur, wool and hair that are
by-products of the tanning industry where hides and skins are processed. A keratinase producing
fungus belonging to the genus Penicillium was isolated from soils containing tannery wastes in Jos,
Plateau State Nigeria.
Materials and Methods: The fungus produced extra cellular protease on skim milk casein agar as
an indication for keratinase production. The species had maximum proteolytic and keratinase
activities in a Submerged Fermentation (SmF) using liquid basal medium supplemented with skim
milk, chicken feathers and human hair as carbon and nitrogen sources.
Results: The Spectrophotometric assay of the proteolytic and keratinolytic activity of Penicilliumpurpurogenum, showed that it had the highest activity (13.5 U/ml) on chicken feathers. This was
followed by human hair with activity of 12 U/ml. The least activity of 11.9 U/ml was observed in
skim milk medium. It was observed that incubation temperature had an effect on the enzyme
activity, with an optimum temperature of 37°C for both protease and keratinase.
Conclusion: This non-dermatophytic keratinolytic fungus may have potential use in
biotechnological processes involving keratin hydrolysis. The results of this work reiterated that
keratinolytic activity is relatively widespread among common fungi and may have an important role
in keratin degradation in the natural environment.