Abstract

Melon seed (Citrullus vulgaris) and locust bean (Parkia biglobosa) were separately subjected to a natural solid – substrate fermentation for 5 days. The peak of protease (P.I) production from the fermenting melon seeds was 48 h while that of the protease (P.II) from fermenting locust bean was 96 h. Both P.I and P.II demonstrated maximum activity at 40°C. The peak of activity for P.I was observed between pH 6.6 to 7.6, whereas for P.II, the optimum pH was 5.8. The Michaelis – Menten’s constant (K_M) as well as the maximum velocity (V_Max) of activity were 4.8 x 10^-2 M and 3.43 x 10^-2/s, and 5.8 x 10^-2 M and 5.1x10^-2/s for both P.I and P.II respectively. The work concludes that fermenting melon and locust bean seeds may be a cheap and alternative source of proteases for industrial processes.

Key words: Kinetics, protease, natural fermentation, locust bean, melon seed, alternative sources.