Hemicellulase

By enzymatic means, chitosan can be easily depolymerized by a variety of hydrolases including lysozyme, pectinase, cellulases, hemicellulases, lipases and amylases, among others, thus showing a peculiar vulnerability to enzymes other than chitosanases [71-76]. While pectinase is of particular... 

In combination with hemicellulases and cellulases, pectinases can lead to fmits liquefaction. 

Enzymes most frequently proposed to fruit juices producers are pectinases coming from Aspergillus. Pectinases are exocellular enzymes and are the main activities produced among numerous side activities type hemicellulases, glycosidases. The Table 1 gives the spectrum of enzymatic activities contained in three commercial preparations A, B and C. 

For apple maceration, the main activity is the endopectinlyase (PL) which decreases the viscosity due to the colloidal pectin by decreasing tlie molecular weight of this substrate methylated at about 90%. In association to this PL, exo B and endoarabanase (ARAs), pectinacetylesterase (PAE), rhamnogalacturonase (RG) and other hemicellulases allow to hydrolyse side chains of the pectin, decrease the steric hindrance and make the access of pectinases to the rhamnogalacturonic backbone more easy. 

However, if theoritically, the combination of pectinases to cellobiohydrolases plus endo-glucanases should release more than 80% of all polysaccharides from the cell walls (according to Voragen and al. [4]), in industrial conditions, we arrive almost at this level of degradation but only for the pectin. Commercial enzymes preparations contain pectinases, hemicellulases and cellulases. 

The cambium was isolated firom spruce (Picea abies) logs felled in October-November. The bark was stripped off, and the cambium was removed by gentle scraping. The isolated cambium was immediately fiozen in liquid nitrogen and fi-eeze-dried. The carbohydrate composition of the isolated cambium was analysed by HPLC after enzymatic hydrolysis using Pectinex Ultra and a mixture of cellulases and hemicellulases (Buchert et al 1993). 

Water removal on the paper machine has been shown to improve as a result of limited hydrolysis of the fibres in recycled paper. Mixtures of cellulases and hemicellulases were found to decrease the SR-value, which describes the drainage behaviour of the fibres (45), The effect is apparently due to fibrillation or change in the composition of fine particles. 

There have been a number of reports of the use of enzymes in the extraction of oils from sources such as fish, rape seed, yeast, palms, and soya beans. Celluloses and pectinases are used in pdm oil extraction. In soya bean and fish, much oil has been found to be associated with protein, so that addition of proteases increases the yield of oil and protein. Use of thermostable proteases is preferred, but m general the use of enzymes is limited by the minimal water contents of the various process streams. Trichoderma uride and A niger celluloses, hemicellulases and proteases have been used to extract hydrocarbons from Euphorbia plants 39 40) and similar enzymes used to extract sapogenins from Helleborus 41). 

Figure 1. Enzyme activities in crude extracts made from cultures of different ages detected with substrates selected for cellulases, hemicellulases, amylases, and pectinases. Cultures were grown at 22 C. Black bars indicate activity for 105-day-old cultures given a 12-day-long cold shock at 5 C starting on day 90. (Reproduced with permission from ref. 8. Copyright 1985 American Society for Microbiology.)...

However, we have observed that values obtained with crude extracts were only qualitative. Often, they did not accurately estimate the quantities of the individual enzymes present. Inhibitors were typically present that caused the underestimation of certain enzymes ie.g., ligninases Table II) and that could potentially mask less dominant enzymes. Also, certain polysaccharidases e.g., hemicellulases) were often overestimated due to the action of non-specific or synergistic enzymes e.g., other hemicellulases or cellulases) (9,14), This artifact resulted in low apparent recovery of a given activity and only moderate increases in specific activity upon purification of the major corresponding enzyme present, in spite of the fact that SDS polyacrylamide gels indicated good recovery and substantial removal of contaminants (14),... 

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