Copra and other mannans including locust bean gum, guar gum, konjac flour, copra and defatted copra were used to produce extracellular mannanase by shaken flask cultures of Aspergillus niger NCH-189 in this study. The best carbon source for mannanase production was defatted copra, which provided more nitrogen source and mannan content. The peak mannanase activity at 28 U ml(-1) was obtained on the day 3 at 30 degreesC, which was four times of those obtained from other carbon sources. Presence of oil in copra depressed the mannanase production of the fungus and the amount should be less than 3% (w/w). The copra suspension could be sequentially treated by boiling and refrigeration, followed by using n-hexane to remove copra oil. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All riahts reserved.