Screening and Identification of a Strain with Protease and Phytase Activities and Its Application in Soybean Meal Fermentation.

The aims of the study were to degrade the anti-nutritional factors (ANFs) such as phytic acid, glycinin, and ß-conglycinin and improve the values of soybean meal (SBM). Firstly, in this study, a strain PY-4B which exhibited the best enzymatic activities of protease (403.3 ± 17.8 U/mL) and phytase (62.9 ± 2.9 U/mL) was isolated and screened among the isolates. Based on the analysis of physiological and biochemical characteristics and 16S rDNA sequence, the strain PY-4B was identified and named as Pseudomonas PY-4B. Next, Pseudomonas PY-4B was applied to fermentation of SBM. The results showed that the contents of glycinin and ß-conglycinin were decreased by 57-63%, and the phytic acid was remarkably degraded by 62.5% due to the fermentation of SBM by Pseudomonas PY-4B. The degradation of glycinin and ß-conglycinin resulted in increase of contents of water-soluble proteins and amino acids in fermented SBM. Moreover, Pseudomonas PY-4B exhibited no hemolytic activity and slight inhibitory effect on the growth of pathogen Staphylococcus aureus and the wide range of pH tolerance (3 to 9). In summary, our study indicates that isolated strain Pseudomonas PY-4B is a safe and applicable strain and has the ability to effectively degrade the ANFs (phytic acid, glycinin, and ß-conglycinin) in SBM by fermentation.