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Characterization of Three Different Potato Starches and Kinetics of Their Enzymatic Hydrolysis by An A-Amylasc
Characterization of Three Different Potato Starches and Kinetics of Their Enzymatic Hydrolysis by An A-Amylasc
Three types of potato starch have been hydrolyzed by an a-amylase from Bacillus subtilis. The courses of
enzymatic degradation were observed with gel-permeation chromatography. The changes in molar mass distri-
butions by enzymatic attack alter (depending on the type of starch) the enzyme concentration and incubation time.
Additionally, macromolecules of native potato starch are destroyed by mechanical treatment and acid hydrolysis.
Initial distributions of molar mass for partly soluble and native potato starch are bimodalfiom the interpretation
of the clustered structure of amylopectin. The kinetics of the reaction are described with the Michaelis-Menten
rate equation with the specific activityfor native potato, partly soluble, and Zulkowski starch of 3,000; 2,900: and
2,630 umol mg-’ protein min-‘, respectively. The Michaelis-Menten parameters are 1.4, 1.9, and 6.0 g I-‘,
respectively. The significantly higher K, value of Zulkowski starch is explained by the low degree of polymer-
ization and the content of a-l,6 branching bonds. 0 1997 by Elsevier Science Inc.
Keywords: Starch; enzyme kinetics; alpha-amylase; molar mass distribution; mechanical degradation
depolymerization, redistribution of the chain linkages oc- of 1% starch solution. After the temperature was adjusted, 10 ml of
curs which forms highly branched molecules.3 o-amylase solution was injected and samples were taken every
On the contrary, milling preferentially degrades amylo- hour.
pectin which can be explained by the bigger size of amy- Starch degradation with iso-amylase was conducted in 500 u-1
samples incubated with enzyme solution under aerobic conditions
lopectin macromolecules which leads to a greater suscepti-
at 40°C with acetate buffer at pH 3.5. The concentration of iso-
bility for rupturing linkages between clusters rather than the amylase in the samples was 1.6 mg protein I-’ [calculated with the
smaller amylose molecules.4 added volume and the protein content per volume (0.8 mg ml-‘)
This article deals with the influence of three starch types given by the manufacturer]. The iso-amylase did not degrade amy-
differing in molar mass and internal linkages on the kinetics lose.
of enzymatic hydrolysis with the enzyme o-amylase. This
enzyme from Bacillus subtilis is known to attack the cx-1,4 Mechanical degradation
linkages of amylose in a random fashion.*
The enzymatic hydrolysis of starches by o-amylase A sample of autoclaved 1% starch solution was stirred at very high
shear rates in an Ultra-Turrax stirrer (T25, IKA-Labortechnik,
leads to the formation of smaller maltosaccharide frag-
Janke & Kunkel, FRG) at 20,000 rpm for one min three times and
ments. Every starch polysaccharide molecule possesses ex- were analyzed afterwards via GPC. Sample warm up was moder-
actly one reducing end which can reduce dinitrosalicylic ate.
acid; therefore, the measurement of reducing sugars is a
useful method to determine the molar concentration of
Acid hydrolysis
starch molecules in solution.* The kinetics of liberation of
reducing sugars in the course of enzymatic starch degrada- To 100 ml of 1% autoclaved native potato starch solution, 1 ml of
tion are described with Michaelis-Menten kinetics.9*‘0 An 37% HCl (Fluka) is added which results in a concentration of
overview is given by Komolprasert and Ofoli. l 1 0.119 N HCI. The solution is heated to 60°C. Samples are taken
The causes of different kinetic behavior are assumed to every hour.
be in the molecular properties of the starch types, hence the
initial and enzymatically hydrolyzed starch types are exam- Analytical methods
ined by gel-permeation chromatography (GPC), a rapid Molar mass distribution and maltose content were measured by
method to measure molar mass and its distribution. This gel-permeation chromatography (OHpak KB-803 column and
method of analysis is reported by a number of research- OHpak KB-805 column, Shodex, Japan) at 20°C with 1 ml mini
ers 59.12 0.05 M NaNO, eluent flow.
Additionally, the enzyme iso-amylase was used to cleave
specifically the a-1,6 linkages in the starches (a method Chemicals
used by Park and Rollings)9 to get further information about
the structure of internal linkages of the starch types. Partly soluble starch was obtained from Sigma (Deisenhofen,
FRG), Zulkowski starch from Fluka, and native potato starch from
Brtiggen (Liibeck, FRG). Only Zulkowski starch is soluble in cold
Materials and methods water without any detergents. The partly soluble and especially
native potato starch are mainly insoluble at normal conditions in
Enzymes water. By fit cooking and afterwards autoclaving at 12 1“C for 20
min clear homogeneous solutions in higher concentrations (up to
The enzyme o-amylase from B. subtilis was obtained from Fluka 40 g 1-i potato starch) were obtained. After cooling, only the
(Neu-Ulm, FRG) and the iso-amylase from Pseudomonas umy- viscosity of native potato starch solution increased (opposite to the
loderumosu was obtained from Sigma (Deisenhofen, FRG). initial suspension) and the flow behavior was pseudoplastic. Fresh
solutions were always used. The samples were stored under sterile
Enzyme assays conditions after autoclaving.
,,
‘\
\
\
\
\
\
,’
/!L \
/ \
\
\
\
L b
lo: (1’
Figure 1 Initial starah molar mass distri-
degree of polymerisation DP [-] - butions
The average molar masses are numerically calculated by the starches resists the enzymatic attack. These fractions con-
moments of molar mass: tain approximately 20% (w/w) of the total mass of both
starches.
The fractions of lower molar mass liberated by iso-
amylase are nearly equal for both starches and show distri-
butions of A- and B-chain types with a DP of 17 and 51,
and respectively. These fractions are in the flame range as initial
Zulkowski starch.
(4)
h4echanical disruption of potato sttirch
The calculated average molar masses of the three starch The polysaccharides of the fraction of higher molecular
types are listed in Table 1. mass are degraded by stirring. As seen jn Figure 3, a part of
Both the partly soluble and native potato starch show the second peak representing the fractjon of higher molar
bimodal molar mass distributions. The peak of higher molar mass decreased after every stirring se&on even in the first
mass of native potato starch is exactly in the range given for min (initial distribution not shown in $igure 3; see Figure
amylopectin of 107-lo9 g mol-I.* 1). First, the mechanical disruption dihinishes the fraction
The enzyme iso-amylase was used to cleave specifically of higher molar mass due to the attack of the biggest mol-
the cl--l,6 linkages to get more information about the inter- ecules. After three min, the peak nearlp disappeared.
nal linkages of the starches. The results of hydrolysis after On the contrary, it was not possiblei to erase the second
sufficient time (no further change in distribution was ob- peak of partly soluble starch under the same conditions.
served) are shown in Fzjpre 2.
Starch degradation with this enzyme leads to a drastic Changes of molar mass distribution in the course of
drop in the molar mass of the partly soluble and native
acid hydrolysis
potato starch (degradation of Zulkowski starch was not de-
tectable). A small fraction with higher molar mass of both Similar to the mechanical disruption first, the fraction of
higher molar mass of native potato sta$ch is degraded (Fig-
ure 4). The products are uniformly didtributed in the range
of the lower molar mass fraction. With further degradation,
Table 1 Kinetic properties of starches depicted in Figure 1 and this fraction splits in a bimodal distribution similar to the
Figure2 distribution of initial partly soluble starch (Figure 1).
Specific
activity a Michaelis-Menten
Changes of molar mass distributidn in the course of
(pm01 mg-‘) K,,,(g I-') enzymatic hydrolysis
With the used c+amylase concentratjon, the native potato
Zulkowski starch 2,630 6.0
Partly soluble starch 2,900 1.9 starch is degraded quickly (1 h) to saccharides (Figure 5)
Native potato starch 3,000 1.4 which shows a distribution similar tci initial partly soluble
starch (Figure 1). With further degradation, the fraction of
0.8
4 a
O3 07
Figure 2 The starch types after 8 h of
degree of polymerisation DP [-] incubation with the enzyme iso-amylase
higher molar mass completely disappeared. This was ac- native potato starch in Figure 5 after the first hour. The
companied by the production of oligosaccharides over the further changes in distribution are also approximately simi-
entire smaller range which was not uniformly distributed lar to those of native potato starch in that Figure.
but demonstrated a preference for higher molar mass and The last starch investigated was the Zulkowski starch;
especially maltosaccharides with a DP of 8. Using a lower the course of hydrolysis is shown in Figure 7. This type of
enzyme concentration in the first stages of hydrolysis of starch is degraded slower since it is expected from the mea-
native potato starch was investigated in more detail. The surements of reducing sugars presented above. After long
disappearance of the second peak (mentioned before) is incubation periods, the hydrolysis of Zulkowski starch is
again visible in F@gure 6. With further hydrolysis, the visible by slightly altered distribution. Besides the liberation
“movement” of the former first peak can be observed. of maltosaccharides with DP 8, the formation of maltose
Also, the appearance of a new peak with a DP at approxi- occurs. The changes are similar to the last stages of hydro-
mately 180 is noted. After 9 h, the distribution is equal to lysis depicted in Figure 5.
that of F&M-~ 5 after 1 h.
The course of hydrolysis of partly soluble starch was also Enzyme kinetics
examined, but the data does not need to be shown because The substrate of the enzyme o-amylase are the o-l ,4 bonds
the initial molar mass distribution was similar to that of in the polysaccharide molecule. The concentration of these
5
‘S
$
4
-0
ul
UI -
EL.
0.8 -
0.6 -
7-r 3fLin
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,’
-.
\
‘,
1 min
5 B
2 3 0.4 -
.9
E
Jz /
.z
ca 0.2 -
.._
$
L LL
IO! l( 1’ Figure3 Course of degradation of native
potato starch during treatment with high
degree of polymerisation DP [-] - stirring intensity in 1 min steps
linkages is approximately proportional to the polysaccha- Menten parameter K, for native potato, partly soluble, and
ride mass concentration. The deviation due to the o-1,6 Zulkowski starch are listed in Table 2.
bonds in potato starch is small if the concentration of those As a result at low substrate concentrations, the affinity of
in the polymer is low. Therefore, Michaelis-Menten kinetics the enzyme o-amylase for the substrate Zulkowski starch
are used to describe the velocity of liberation of reducing was lower compared to the other starches. This was re-
sugars v as a function of the initial starch concentration S: flected by the higher K, parameter. The rates of hydrolysis
of native potato and partly soluble starch are similar. Partly
a cE S
soluble starch shows a slightly higher Krh parameter in com-
(5)
v=K, parison with native potato starch. The rate of enzymatic
starch degradation is not significantly iinhibited by the ad-
The rate is proportional to the enzyme (protein) concentra-
dition of maltose (data not shown).
tion cn with a specific activity a and the Michaelis-Menten
parameter K,. Discussion
The rates of hydrolysis of all three starch types are de-
scribable with Eq. (5). The measured and calculated rates Characterization of the starch molecules
are depicted in Figures 8 and 9 with Lineweaver-Burk plots. Autoclaved native potato and partly soluble starch solutions
The values of the specific activity a and the Michaelis- are bimodal distributed. What are the causes for these dis-
I I
--- 1 hour
--- 2 hours
---- 4 hours
- 9 hours
--- 1 hour
--- 2 hour
---- 3 hour
- 5 hour
tributions? They cannot be explained by the approximately and an upper size limit for mechanical degradation. Analo-
20% amylose content of native potato starch because the gously, the smaller molar fraction of clusters is ruptured
o--1,6 specific hydrolysis with the enzyme iso-amylase de- from the big amylopectin molecules of native potato starch
graded the initial distributions except for a small resisting (Figure IOU) by the thermal degradation during autoclaving.
fraction of higher molar mass (formerly overlayed by the During the first stages of acid and enzymatic hydrolysis
other fractions) which agrees in molar mass and the percen- of native potato starch, the fraction of higher molar mass is
tual content with the given data of amylose at 20% and also preferentially attacked (Figure 6). Predominantly, the
2.6-6.5 * IO5 g mol-1,2 respectively. The amylose from external o-1,4 linkages outside the cluster regions rather
partly soluble starch has lower molar mass than that of than the internal bonds are cleaved. These results cannot be
native soluble starch due to lintnerization. explained with the model proposed by Park and Rollingsg
The bimodal distribution of autoclaved native potato about inhibition of enzymatic attack by steric effects of the
starch can be removed by mechanical degradation. The sec- regional network of concentrated polysaccharide chains in
ond peak of native potato starch results from the cleavage of the cluster domain of amylopectin due to similar results of
the linear chain portions of amylopectin by high stirring acid hydrolysis. This effect must be related to different re-
intensities (Figure ZOb). The broad but not uniform distri- activities of the longer chains connecting the clusters com-
bution of the increasing fraction indicates that there are pared to the internal bonds of the clusters.
linkages of the amylopectin molecule being favorly attacked With further enzymatic degradation, a bimodal distribu-
r r
tion appears again (Figure 5) which is nearly identical to the investigated starch types decreases while the K,,, value
that of partly soluble starch. This type of starch is industri- increases with decreasing molar weight of the starch types.
ally produced by acid hydrolysis according to the Lintner Similar results are reported by Fujii and Kawamura” for the
method. The bimodal distribution of autoclaved lintnerized same enzyme used here that acts on starch. They measured
potato starch is proposed as being composed of clusters constant maximal velocities and increasing Km values with
(Figure 10~) and small fragments (Figure 106). decreasing molar mass. The activity at substrates with a
With further enzymatic attack, the cluster structure dis- molar mass lower than 5,000 g mol-’ was reported to be
appears and the formation of maltosaccharides increases. negligible.
The first attempt to explain the increase in the Km pa-
Kinetics of starch degradation rameter and the decrease in the maximal velocity of the
Michaelis-Menten kinetics with decreasing molar mass was
The kinetics of enzymatic hydrolysis of different starch a noncompetitive inhibition by a substaqce which is part of
types are described with the velocity of liberation of reduc- the substrate. In the literature, it was reported that maltose
ing sugars. The results of the kinetics demonstrate that the noncompetitively inhibits starch hydqolysis by a-amy-
maximal velocity of the liberation of reducing sugars from lase.15 but our experiments show that nb significant inhibi-
d) Zulkowski starch
Acknowledgments