Abstract
The production in Southeast Asian countries of naturally fermented foods which are protein rich relies on the proteolytic action of their natural bacterial flora. A bacterium, FS-2, which was isolated from Laotian fish sauce, was identified as Bacillus subtilis. B. subtilis FS-2 is a collagenase-producing bacterium that was aerobically inducible by insoluble collagen and polypeptone. The maximum enzyme activity was detected at the middle of the stationary phase in a medium containing 0.75% polypeptone and 1% NaCl.
