In the present study, isolation and characterization of microorganisms was performed by collection of saline sample obtained from Kilakarai a coastal town, Ramnad Dt. Serial dilution was carried out to isolate strains by spread plate and pure culture in Nutrient agar medium. The isolates were screened for exopolysaccharide production which was confirmed by formation of clear zone around the colonies. The dominant strains were characterized morphologically and biochemically. It was confirmed as Bacillus cereus. The production of exopolysaccharide was performed by selective media and it was confirmed by treatment of extracts in ice cold isopropanol. The study was further extended for optimization with different pH, temperature, different carbon and nitrogen sources. The optimum pH was found to be 7.0 and the optimum temperature was found to be 370 c. Among the carbon sources tested sucrose was found to exhibit enhanced production, whereas peptone was found to yield an increased production among nitrogen sources. The functional group changes after production of exopolysaccharide was analyzed by FTIR. The total quantity of protein estimated was found to be 1.66g/lit. The High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis was performed to identify the metabolites which exhibited a prominent peak of 1.933 indicated fraction of exopolysaccharide metabolite present presumed to be deoxyhexoses and hexoses produced by Bacilluscereus for exopolysaccharide production. The other HPLC chromatogram with a peak value of 2.013 represent fraction of exopolysaccharides corresponds to alditol acetates of monosaccharaides.
