Improvement of lipase production from Geotrichum sp. in shaken flasks

This work is focused on the study of different variables on inoculum build-up aiming to improve the lipase production by Geotrichum sp. by means a sequential strategy of experimental design. The effects of inoculum size, corn steep liquor concentration, volume of inoculum, pH of medium, age of inoculum and soybean oil concentration on lipase activity were assessed by means of two factorial experimental designs. A maximum lipase activity of 35.20±0.8 U/mL was obtained with a inoculum composed of one circular area of 0.78cm2 containing spores, 50 mL of inoculum volume medium, 12 hours of inoculum age, 15% w/v of corn steep liquor concentration, 1.0%w/v of soybean oil concentration and initial pH 5.0 at 30°C and 150 rpm in flasks. This work showed that an enhancement of lipase activity can be obtained using a sequential statistical factorial approach to define the variables for inoculum build-up.