Technical and economical evaluation of microbial transglutaminase production on enzymatic hydrolysates of potato (Solanum tuberosum)

New low-cost culture media for microbial transglutaminase production are desired to enhance the economics of its biotechnological production. The aim of this work was to evaluate the production of transglutaminase from enzymatic hydrolysates of potato by Streptomyces mobaraensis in a reduced nutritional medium. An experimental design was performed to optimise the composition of yeast extract (YE), corn steep liquor (CSL) and sodium caseinate (SC) as nutritional supplements. The results showed a significant effect of YE and SC, the effect of CSL being non-significant. Economic yield was also modelled for evaluating the economics of the process. Optimal conditions selected were 10 g/L of YE, 2 g/L of CSL and 13.7 g/L of SC, yielding a maximum activity of 1.128 +/- 0.100 U/mL and a transglutaminase economic yield of 3.72Euro per Euro spent in nutrients. The results showed that enzymatic hydrolysates of potato were feasible media for the production of transglutaminase.