LARGE-SCALE PRODUCTION AND PURIFICATION OF KAPPA-CARRAGEENASE FROM PSEUDOMONAS-CARRAGEENOVORA FOR APPLICATIONS IN SEAWEED BIOTECHNOLOGY

Cultures of Pseudomonas carrageenovora were grown successfully in a stirred-tank fermentor system suitable for scaled-up conditions. Improved production of the enzyme kappa-carrageenase was obtained by starting bacterial growth on a cheap carbon source (lactose) and adding small amounts of carrageenan (0.15%) to initiate enzyme production. This extracellular enzyme was found to be stable both during fermentation and the following purification steps. For large-scale purification, ultrafiltration membrane/hollow fiber) followed directly by ion exchange chromatography on the cation exchanger system S-Sepharose FF was found most convenient.