485ISOLATION & CHARECTERIZATION OF LIPASE PRODUCING FUNGI FROM PALM OIL MILL EFFLUENT OBTAINED FROM PEDAVEGI, A.P., INDIAThe uses of lipases are enormous and increasing and so there is every need to screen and isolate potential species capable of producing large quantities of the enzyme to use for various Industrial applications. In the present investigation Extracellular Lipase producing fungal organisms were screened and isolated from Palm oil effluent collected from Pedavegi palm oil extraction plant, West Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh, India. Of the 10 genera and 15 species of fungi isolated, 12 dominant fungi were selected to study their lipase enzyme activity. The Lipase present in the broth was assayed by cup-plate method and the activity of the enzyme is further confirmed by titrimetric method. Trichoderama spp and Aspergillus spp showed highest lipase producing activity (8.08 U/mL) and Mucor spp showed least enzymatic activity (4.77 U/mL). Aspergillus spp were found to be most frequently encountered spp compared to other fungal members. Since there is growing demand for lipases industrially, rapid and persistent screening for new microorganisms and their lipolytic enzyme activities will open new insights for synthetic processes and provides faster ways to solve environmental problems. In view of this our present study is useful in this aspectjnlavanyalatha@yahoo.co.inResearch572014Lipase activity,Palm oil effluent, Fungal enzymes,Extracellular lipasesSuseela L,Anupama M,Prudhvilal B. Narasaiah TV,Naveena Lavanya Latha JDepartment of Biotechnology, Krishna University, Machilipatnam-52001, Andhra Pradesh, India.,Department of Biotechnology, Krishna University, Machilipatnam-52001, Andhra Pradesh, India.,Department of Biotechnology, Krishna University, Machilipatnam-52001, Andhra Pradesh, India.,Department of Biotechnology, Krishna University, Machilipatnam-52001, Andhra Pradesh, India.