Enzymatic hydrolysis of starch in electrochemically activated aqueous solution

Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics of Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino, 142290, Russia

^* Corresponding author: agpogorelov@rambler.ru

Abstract

In this work, the hydrolysis of starch in an enzyme solution was studied, where softened water or fractions of a metastable electrochemically activated aqueous solution (ECAS) were used as a solvent. Extracts obtained after hydrolysis of food starch grains were analyzed using optical density spectrometry of the sample and micro-weighing with a quartz resonator of the dry residue contained in an aqueous solution. It is shown that the enzyme solution on the reduced fraction of ECAS (catholyte) contains the least amount of extracted substances, but it contains the highest concentration of oligosaccharides. This fact may mean the presence of a more efficient cleavage by the enzyme of water-insoluble polysaccharides to low molecular weight derivatives in the medium of the electrolyte. As a result of this synergistic effect, a relatively high content of oligosaccharides is observed even at a low level of primary hydrolysis on the surface of the starch grain. This assumption was investigated on modified starch soluble in water. For the compared aqueous solutions of the enzyme preparation, which initially contain the same concentration of amylodextrins, faster hydrolysis is observed in the enzyme medium on softened water.