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Abstract
Basidiomycetes, commonly known as a fruiting fungus, is considered as a natural chitosan producer. This study optimized chitosan production by already isolated Coprinopsis-S1strain. and evaluated its antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Listeria monocytogenes, Psuedomonas aeruginosa, common food borne pathogens. The organism has given the best result, 48.5 mg/L of chitosan production under an optimized condition of pH 6, temperature 25⁰C, 1% of maltose as a carbon and 1% of Yeast extract as a nitrogen source under submerged fermentation condition. The extract has given the best antimicrobial activity against Listeria monocytogenes with a maximum zone of inhibition in combination with nisin in a ratio of 1:1 of 24.6 mm, but it had not shown activity against Bacillus subtilis showing its antimicrobial property towards Gram negative bacteria rather than the Gram-positive ones.