Optimization of physical parameters for enhanced production of lipase from Staphylococcus hominis using response surface methodology

Lipase, a versatile hydrolytic enzyme, is gaining more importance in environmental applications such as treatment of oil and grease containing wastewater, pretreatment of solid waste/industrial wastewater for anaerobic treatment. In the present study, the attempts have been made to improve the production of lipase from Staphylococcus hominis MTCC 8980 by optimization of pH, temperature, and agitation speed in lab scale shake flasks culture. The experiments were designed using the full factorial central composite design of experiment. A total of 20 experiments were conducted, and the optimized pH, temperature, and agitation speed were found to be 7.9, 33.1 °C, and 178.4 rpm, respectively. The results of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) test revealed that the linear terms for temperature and agitation were significant (p value < 0.05). Interaction for pH and agitation speed was found to have a significant effect on lipase production from S. hominis MTCC 8980. A 150% increase in enzyme activity was observed under the optimized conditions with the maximum lipase activity of 1.82 U/ml. Further enhancement of enzyme activity can be expected from the optimization of medium components.