Abstract
The decomposition of jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) by means of the bacterial enzyme (prionase) was examined successfully. The prionase was produced extracellularly by Streptomyces strain 99-GP-2D-5, which was isolated from Yatsuhigata tidal flat in Narashino city. Three hundred grams of jellyfish was decomposed completely with 0.2% concentrations of crude enzyme E77 within 30 min at 50°C. The decomposing effect of E77 was confirmed by taking 3 kg of jellyfish in a 300 L siphon-used pilot system under similar conditions, though it took 100 min to decompose the jellyfish perfectly. The repetitive use of 0.2% E77 solution without a new addition of E77 was also tested. The test shows that it decomposes 100 g of newly added jellyfish at least 5 times at 50°C. The jellyfish-decomposed solution diluted by 30mg/L COD value, an acute toxicity was not observed using Oryzias latipes.
