Abstract: An enzyme of hydrolytic action, according to the invention, is a neutral protease having the molecular weight of about 37,000, the isoelectric point at pH 8.8, the optimum activity at 40.degree. - 45.degree. C, the stability range in aqueous solutions at pH 6.8 - 8.0, quickly inactivating in said solutions at temperatures above 50.degree. C.The enzymatic preparation containing the enzyme of hydrolytic action in an amount of 50 - 500 PU/g and the metabolites of the strains Streptomyces hygroscopicus.A method for preparing the hydrolytic enzyme, in which the strain Streptomyces hygroscopicus is cultivated on media containing assimilable sources of carbon and nitrogen, inorganic mineral salts, in deep aerobic conditions, with accumulation of the enzyme of hydrolytic action and the metabolites of the said strains in the culture fluid, followed by subsequent isolation of the enzyme.

Abstract: An enzyme of hydrolytic action, according to the invention, is a neutral protease having the molecular weight of about 37,000, the isoelectric point at pH 8.8, the optimum activity at 40.degree. - 45.degree. C, the stability range in aqueous solutions at pH 6.8 - 8.0, quickly inactivating in said solutions at temperatures above 50.degree. C.The enzymatic preparation containing the enzyme of hydrolytic action in an amount of 50 - 500 PU/g and the metabolites of the strains Streptomyces hygroscopicus.A method for preparing the hydrolytic enzyme, in which the strain Streptomyces hygroscopicus is cultivated on media containing assimilable sources of carbon and nitrogen, inorganic mineral salts, in deep aerobic conditions, with accumulation of the enzyme of hydrolytic action and the metabolites of the said strains in the culture fluid, followed by subsequent isolation of the enzyme.

Abstract: Mycoheptin, an antifungal antibiotic, is obtained by extracting the antibiotic from the mycelium with a 65 to 80-percent aqueous solution of isopropanol which contains from 1 to 10 percent by weight of calcium chloride and 10 to 15 percent by weight of methylene chloride, precipitating the antibiotic, washing it with aqueous isopropanol, reprecipitating it from a dimethylformamide solution with water, and treating the product with a 20 to 50-percent aqueous solution of n-propanol containing from 0.2 to 0.5 percent by weight of sodium hexametaphosphate.The novel extracting and reprecipitating agents employed in the process of this invention result in a yield which is 1.5-times that of known methods of mycoheptine recovery from the mycelium as well as in a higher quality of the desired product.