Investigating the effects of ultrasonication parameters on the production of invertase enzyme from Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Invertase enzyme is scientifically known as β-fructofuranosidase or sucrase. This enzyme, which belongs to the hydrolase class, can be produced by animals, plants, or microorganisms. Invertase is an intracellular enzyme and it cannot pass through the cell wall. Invertase was produced by a waste product including sieve yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), obtained from a baker yeast factory. In order to extract the invertase enzyme, the cell was disrupted by an ultrasonication device using sound waves. Since the protein amount and enzyme activity of the obtained enzyme should be at maximum level, the parameters of time, power (amplitude) of ultrasonication, and yeast amount were investigated in the experiments. In the study, 20 different experiments were conducted which were randomly generated using the response surface methodology. As a result of the experiments, the highest protein amount was found as 23.92 mg protein/ml crude extract using following parameters: 45 min ultrasonication time, 70% amplitude, and 36.82% yeast concentration. Also, the highest enzyme activity was found to be 1720 IU/ml crude extract using following parameters: 45 min ultrasonication time, 70% amplitude, and 36.82% yeast concentration. The aim of the study was to reach the highest protein amount and invertase enzyme activity. The model equations were used to predict the amount of protein and invertase activity in crude extract at optimum conditions: ultrasonication time, amplitude and yeast concentration. Finally, it was recorded that the accuracy of the model for prediction of protein amount was 49.5% and that of invertase activity was 52%. Key words: Invertase Enzyme, Ultrasonication, Optimization