Enzymatic hydrolysis viscosity during

Viscose rayon is inherently a weak fibre, particularly when wet, therefore it is highly susceptible to damage if enzymatic hydrolysis is not controlled. The enzymatic hydrolysis of viscose fibres causes a decrease of the intrinsic viscosity from 250 to 140 ml/g and an increase in crystallinity from 29 to 39% after 44 h [34]. Strong changes of the structure, however, are not typical for the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulosic materials. Neither cotton nor wood pulp show an essential decrease of the DP during enzymatic hydrolysis [35-37]. The kinetics of the enzymatic hydrolysis of regenerated cellulose fibres before and after acid prehydrolysis changes the kinetics from a monophasic to a biphasic first order reaction [38]. 

Enzymatic gelation of partially heat-denatured whey proteins by trypsin, papain, pronase, pepsin, and a preparation of Streptomyces griseus has been studied (Sato et al., 1995). Only peptic hydrolysate did not form a gel. The strength of the gel depended on the enzyme used and increased with increasing DH. Hydrolysis of whey protein concentrate with a glutamic acid specific protease from Bacillus licheniformis at pH 8 and 8% protein concentration has been shown to produce plastein aggregates (Budtz and Nielsen, 1992). The viscosity of the solution increased dramatically during hydrolysis and reached a maximum at 6% DH. Incubation of sodium caseinate with pepsin or papain resulted in a 55-77% reduction in the apparent viscosity (Hooker et al., 1982). 

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