Pullulan is a unique exopolysacharides of yeast like
fungal origin with many useful traits and hundreds
of patented applications. However, despite the fact
that pullulan has been in commercial production for
more than 25 years, few of these potential uses have
been widely adopted. In large part this may be due to
the relatively high price of pullulan. Due to its nontoxic,
non-immunogenic, non-mutagenic and noncarcinogenic
nature recently there is an attempt to
explore this polysaccharide for various biomedical
applications including targeted drug and gene delivery
and surface modification. This biopolymer improves
the shelf life of the food as it is not a readily assimilable
carbon source for bacteria, molds and fungi responsible
for spoilage of food. The oxygen resistance of pullulan
films is suitable for protection of readily oxidized fats
and vitamins in food. The present study was carried
out to isolate effective pullulan producing strains
of Aureobasidium pullulans from plant leaves like
Mangifera indica, Ficus benghalensis and Azhadiracta
indica and vegetables like beans and cabbage wastes
. Various potential strains from these samples were
screened and characterized. The optimization of the
medium for pullulan production considering different
carbon sources, nitrogen sources, temperature and pH
was carried out in the study. The total carbohydrate
content of pullulan produced from the culture was
estimated using phenol sulphuric acid method. The
confirmation and purification of exopolysaccharide was
performed by thin layer chromatography using pullulan
from Sigma, U.S.A as standard.