Keratin degradation by fungi isolated from the grounds of a gelatin factory in Jabalpur,India

The ability of five keratinophilic fungi, i.e., Chrysosporium indicum, Geotrichum candidum, Gymnoascoideus petalosporus, Scopulariopsis brevicaulis, and Talaromyces trachyspermus, to digest human hair keratin in stationary culture has been studied. Degradation of human scalp hair was studied by determination of cysteine, cystine, inorganic sulfate, thiosulfate, total protein, keratinase and change in alkalinity of culture filtrate. Gymnoascoideus petalosporus showed maximum degradation as compared to remaining isolates when grown on human scalp hair as the sole source of nutrients in vitro.