Tanabe Seiyaku Company, Limited

Motoyoshi Sato

Takeji Shibatani

Kouji Yanagiya

Kouhei Takahashi

A process for producing an esterase by cultivating an esterase-producing microorganism is disclosed. The cultivation is carried out in a medium to which has been added an ester of sorbitan or polyoxyethylene sorbitan and a substituted or unsubstituted fatty acid having 12 to 18 carbon atoms along with an amino acid which has the formula: ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 is hydrogen or a lower alkyl group which may be substituted with a substituent selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, carboxy, amino, guanidino, carbamoyl, mercapto, methylthio, phenyl, hydroxyphenyl, imidazolyl and indolyl, and R.sup.2 is hydrogen, or R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are combined to form trimethylene.

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Tokyo, Japan

Motoyoshi Sato