Producción de pectinasas por Bacillus spp. a partir de cáscaras de naranja y de toronja como fuente de carbono Pectinase production by Bacillus spp. from orange and grapefruit peels as a carbon source

Cultures of Bacillus spp. producers of pectinases were isolated and selected. For accomplishing that goal, soil samples were enriched with pectin from orange and grapefruit peels, they were moistened and let stand; from these a suspension at 1/10 in tap water was prepared and it underwent a thermal treatment of 80°C for 10 min., it cooled down and was sowed in surface of the agar nutritious medium with salts and pectin as substratum, it was incubated and the reading was done adding aliquot of a lugol solution and those cultivations that presented bigger halo of hydrolyisis of pectin were selected (from 8 to 32 mm). These cultivations (15) were sowed between liquid nutritious more salts and pectin and they were incubated by 24 - 72 hours; then they were centrifuged and the supernatant denominated raw extract of pectin was obtained (ECP), from which the essays of activity were carried out. It was found that there is no relationship between the size of the hydrolysis halo and the pectinase activity in medium liquid, being the biggest activity 3,17 U and there are no difference among the sources of carbon for Bacillus spp in the pectinases production.