Utilization of Leek (Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum) for Inulinase Production

Inulinase production by Rhodotorula glutinis was carried out in this study, using leek (Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum) as an alternative carbon source due to its high inulin content and easy availability. Taguchi orthogonal array (OA) design of experiment (DOE) was used to optimize fermentation conditions. For this purpose, five influential factors (leek concentration, pH, incubation temperature, agitation speed, and fermentation time) related to inulinase production were selected at four convenient levels. The results showed that maximum inulinase activity was obtained as 30.89 U/mL, which was close to the predicted result (30.24 U/mL). To validate the obtained results, analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed. Consequently, leek has a great potential as an effective and economical carbon source for inulinase production, and the use of Taguchi DOE enhanced enzyme activity about 2.87-fold when compared with the unoptimized condition.