UTILIZATION OF SIMPLEX CENTROID MIXTURE DESIGN TO EVALUATE THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT AGROIDUSTRIAL SUBSTRATES ON PROTEASE PRODUCTION BY Aspergillus tamarii URM4634

Microbial proteases are enzymes widely used in several industrial segments and are produced by fermentative process, in which Solid-State Fermentation (SSF) is highlighted, among other reasons, by large utilization of several agroindustrial substrates. The aim of this work is the utilization of simplex centroid mixture design to evaluate the influence of different agroindustrial substrates (soy bran, wheat bran and oat bran) on protease production by Aspergillus tamarii URM4634. The maximum protease production was observed in formulation composed only by wheat bran at 96 h of fermentation (217.167 ± 1.64 U/mL) and synergistic effects of mixture of substrates were observed in these conditions: wheat bran and soy bran (24-48 h), soy bran and oat bran (24-96 h) and wheat bran and oat bran (24-48 h). All mixture models obtained presenting satisfactory correlation. Therefore, the utilization of simplex centroid mixture design proved an interesting alternative to study different medium formulations to protease production by SSF.