Hydrolysis of chitin into N-acetylglucosamine (NAG) can be done enzymatically by using chitinase enzyme that obtained from the fermentation with chitinolytic molds. Mucor circinelloides is one example of chitinolytic mold that can produce semi purified chitinase enzyme during the fermentation of chitin from black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) shell. The semi purified chitinase enzyme that obtained in this research will be immobilized into the agar polymer to the extent of its stability during NAG production. This research was aimed to investigated the best concentration of agar (3,4,5, and 6%) and the best amount of added enzyme (0.2; 0.4; 0.6; 0.8; and 1 mL) toward the production of NAG. The result showed 0.6 ml of semi purified chitinase that immobilized into 3% of agar can produced NAG within the concentration 1111.667 ppm. Moreover, this enzyme considerably stable before and after immobilization within the value of 4.78 U/mL.

Chitinolytic mold, such as Mucor circinelloidesis can be utilized to produce chitinase enzyme for shrimp shell’s chitin hydrolysis into N-acetylglucosamine (NAG). For that purpose, entrapment of chitinase on agar as a carrier could be an alternative way to improve NAG production. This study aimed to investigate the stability of immobilized semi-purified chitinase on agar for multiple cycles fermentation to produce NAG. In this study, 0.6 mL of semi-purified chitinase enzyme was immobilized into 3% of agar matrices and tested for four fermentation cycles to obtain highest NAG concentration and good enzyme activity. The results indicate that the immobilized chitinase could be used for 6 hours fermentation or three fermentation cycles. The NAG concentration produced after three cycle were 1042.22 ± 16.20 ppm. Besides, the immobilized enzyme was considerably stable up to the third cycles with activity value of about 4.74 U/mL.Keywords: agar; immobilized;NAG; repeated fermentation