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Evaluation of locally produced Saccharomyces cerevisiae
pectinase enzyme for industrial extraction of starch
from cassava in Ghana
Dzogbefia, V. P.*, Ofosu, G. A. and Oldham, J. H.
Department
of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Kwame Nkrumah University
of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
*Corresponding author. E-mail:
vicdzogbefia@yahoo.com. Fax: 233-51-60137. Tel:
233-51-60298
Accepted
25 July, 2008. |
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Enzymes are
widely used in industries to improve upon process parameters
such as product yield and rate of product formation. Such
biotechnological applications are not currently exploited by
industries in Ghana. The objective of the study was
to evaluate the suitability of a crude pectin enzyme for the
industrial extraction of cassava starch. Pectin enzymes
produced by culturing Saccharomyces cerevisiae ATCC
52712 in an appropriate medium for 6 days was used as a
crude enzyme extract and tested for its ability to enhance
the extractability of cassava starch. An enzyme dosage of
0.02% with a reaction time of 30 min gave the optimum
increase in rate of starch extraction (60%) and increase in
yield of starch extracted (53%). When these optimum
conditions were applied on a scale-up extraction process
with a traditional starch processor, the corresponding
values were 50 and 45.6%, respectively. These results
indicate the possible use of enzyme technology to improve
starch processing by starch producers in Ghana if the
enzymes are made available.
Key
words:
Pectin enzymes, enzyme dosage, extraction rate, reaction
time, traditional extraction, yield. |
