100 g of either IC or PP or different combinations of IC and PP (either supplied or not supplied with maltose and beef extract) were taken in rectangular trays of approximate dimension 286 mm × 120 mm × 80 mm mixed thoroughly with 100 ml of distilled water (pH was adjusted to 8.0 with 0.1N NaOH). The moistened powder was spread evenly on the tray in layers, typically between 0.5 and 1.0 cm deep in tray with an open top. The tray was then closed with aluminum foil followed by autoclaving at 15 lb pressure and at 121 ◦C temperature for 15 min, cooled to room temperature and 40 ml inoculum of B. subtilis DM-04 strain (optical density 0.5 ± 0.1 at 600 nm) was inoculated in the mixture, mixed well and the tray was recovered with aluminum foil. The operation was carried out aseptically under a laminar flow. The tray was incubated at 50 ◦C temperature for 24 h under static condition and then the protease was extracted by the procedures described below. A set of control experiment was run in parallel. For the extraction of protease enzyme, fermented matter was transferred to a 500 ml glass beaker and to this, 250.0 ml of distilled water (pH was adjusted to 8.0 with 0.1 NaOH) containing 0.01% Triton X-100 was added and the protease extraction was carried out as described previously.