The linear polysaccharide β-1, 4-xylan (hemicellulose), one of the major components of plant cell walls, is considered as by product in paper making process. The enzymatic hydrolysis of β-1, 4-xylan by xylanases into xylose can be useful for preparation of different value added product with wide industrial applications. Microorganisms are the rich sources of xylanases, produced by diverse genera and species of bacteria, actinomycetes, and fungi. Several species of Bacillus and filamentous fungi

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... secrete high amounts of extracellular xylanases .However; the principal producer of xylanase is filamentous fungi. Hence, xylanase can be explored in various industrial applications including greener processing of hides and skins. It can be used for the soaking, greener cleaning of hides and skin, bleaching of pigments from skin in leather industries. In this work, a Three Phase Partitioning (TPP) method has been used for isolation of this enzyme from Agaricus bisporus which is an edible basidiomycete mushroom. The isolated enzyme extract was assayed to find out the xylanase activity. The enzyme production was optimized under variable experimental conditions such as ammonium sulphate concentration, ratio of culture filtrate to tertiary butanol (v/v) and pH. It was found that all the three experimental variables influence the degree of enzyme production and its activity. Maximum enzyme was obtained in the inter-facial phase at 50 % ammonium sulphate saturation (w/v) when the other conditions were maintained constant, whereas at 1:2 ratio of culture filtrate to t-butanol (v/v) and at pH 6 keeping the remaining experimental variables constant individually the same result has been achieved. This work might pave the way towards a greener eco-friendly enzyme based leather processing.