Date Received: 29-05-2012 / Date Accepted: 15-09-2012 / Date Published: 13-06-2025
Starter culture is a source of pure microorganisms that are used for controlled fermentationto produce traditional fermented products with high quality, stability, and safety. The starter culture derived from mold contains spores and hydrolytic enzymes. This study was conducted to determine the optimal culture conditions for spore formation and the protease biosynthesis of mold Mucor elegans, to set up a manufacturing protocol for the starter culture that can be applied for producing the fermented soybean product “Chao”. It was identified that the medium with soybean meal and rice flour in a 50/50 ratio was the best for start culture production.