Abstract The majority of lipolytic enzymes in industrial use are currently attracting an enormous attention because of their bio-technological applications. Lipase producing bacteria were isolated from five fat containing soils of oil mills, abattoir, garage, Sewage and cafeteria and were grown on nutrient agar. In order to identify the best lipid producing bacteria, the bacterial strain were screened in tributyrin agar medium. The suspected lipase producing colonies were inoculated aseptically in nutrient broth media and cultured for 24hrs at 370c. Two stages of enzymatic screening were performed. All the suspected lipolytic bacteria were subjected to primary screening followed by secondary screening for those isolates that showed enzymatic activity in primary screening. A total of five oil contaminated soil samples were collected from which 13 lipoliytic bacterial isolates were obtained. The isolate was further examined for lipids degrading activity qualitatively. Out of these 13 isolates, five isolates showed significant lipolytic activity, three isolates showed moderate activity and six isolates showed high activity on olive oil. One isolate showed color change on well were as two isolates showed color change on spot. Out 13 isolate two isolates showed moderate activity,11 isolates showed high activity on tween80 and 2 isolates showed color change on well but not in spot. The isolates were confirmed based on their standard Microscopic, Colony characteristics, Bio-chemical and physiological features. The isolate appeared promising and can be a good source of lipase but it requires a detail characterization of growth and nutrient conditions.

Keywords: Soil, Tributyrin, Lipase, Lipolytic bacteria