Microbial means of L-glutamic acid production have
advantage of directly yielding optical and biological active form of the amino
acid. The production of L-glutamic acid was investigated using bacterial
isolates obtained from tropical soil and water samples obtained from Lagos,
Nigeria. L–glutamic acid producing bacterial strains were isolated and
identified using the Analytical Profile Index (API) Test 50CHB/20E kit. The
L-Glutamic acid production was tested on Luria Bertani Broth and determined by
qualitative and quantitative approaches. Six (6) isolates were L-Glutamate
producers of which the best producing isolates were Paenibacillus alvei and Corynebacterium
glucuronolyticum – seminale giving a yield higher than 0.7 g/L.  The best L-glutamic acid producing isolates
were further tested to determine the effects of a variety of carbon and
nitrogen sources as well as varying concentration of biotin on the yield of the
amino acid produced. Glucose gave yields of 1.19 g/L and 1.05 g/L of L-glutamic
acid for Paenibacillus alvei and Corynebacterium glucuronolyticum–seminale respectively,
while ammonium chloride and optimum biotin concentration at 2µg gave yields of
1.15 g/L and 2.09 g/L as well as 1.59 g/L and 1.75 g/L respectively. These
bacterial strains therefore offer tremendous promise as candidates for further
manipulation for enhanced production of L-glutamic acid using indigenous
bacteria from the tropical environment