Kinetics of enhanced ethanol productivity using raw starch hydrolyzing glucoamylase from Aspergillus niger mutant produced in solid state fermentation

Characterization of an organic solvent-tolerant thermostable glucoamylase from a halophilic isolate, Halolactibacillus sp. SK71 and its application in raw starch hydrolysis for bioethanol production

A halophilic bacterium Halolactibacillus sp. SK71 producing extracellular glucoamylase was isolated from saline soil of Yuncheng Salt Lake, China. Enzyme production was strongly influenced by the salinity of growth medium with maximum in the presence of 5% NaCl. The glucoamylase was purified to homogeneity with a molecular mass of 78.5 kDa. It showed broad substrate specificity and raw starch hydrolyzing activity. Analysis of hydrolysis products from soluble starch by thin-layer chromatography revealed that glucose was the sole end-product, indicating the enzyme was a true glucoamylase. Optimal enzyme activity was found to be at 70°C, pH 8.0, and 7.5% NaCl. In addition, it was highly active and stable over broad ranges of temperature (0-100°C), pH (7.0-12.0), and NaCl concentration (0-20%), showing excellent thermostable, alkali stable, and halotolerant properties. Furthermore, it displayed high stability in the presence of hydrophobic organic solvents. The purified glucoamylase was applied for raw corn starch hydrolysis and subsequent bioethanol production using Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The yield in terms of grams of ethanol produced per gram of sugar consumed was 0.365 g/g, with 71.6% of theoretical yield from raw corn starch. This study demonstrated the feasibility of using enzymes from halophiles for further application in bioenergy production.

CONCEPTUAL AND MATHEMATICAL MODELS OF BATCH SIMULTANEOUS SACCHARIFICATION AND FERMENTATION: DIMENSIONLESS GROUPS FOR PREDICTING PROCESS DYNAMICS

This paper describes a modeling effort demonstrating that dimensionless groupings of classical process parameters can be used to predicting process dynamics of batch simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) processes. Michaelis–Menten enzyme kinetics and Monod growth kinetics were employed, and inhibition of enzyme action and inhibition of microbial growth were neglected. The SSF process was characterized by the relative durations of three phases: A microbially-limited phase, a hydrolysis-limited phase, and a monosaccharide-depletion phase. The duration of these three phases were interrelated, and well predicted by the dimensionless magnitude of the monosaccharide peak (MSP). Thus, the MSP could be used as a single-value descriptor of an SSF process. The dimensionless ratio of the initial hydrolysis rate to the initial substrate consumption rate was shown to predict MSP, and an overall system time constant was shown to predict the total run time of a batch SSF process.

Indigestible dextrin stimulates glucoamylase production in submerged culture of Aspergillus kawachii

Submerged batch cultures of Aspergillus kawachii grown on indigestible dextrin were investigated for potential improvements in glucoamylase (GA) production. In flask culture, specific GA productivities per dry weight biomass using dextrin and indigestible dextrin were 11.0 and 56.1 mU/mg-DW, respectively. Indigestible dextrin was a poor substrate for enzymatic hydrolysis. Rates of glucose formation from dextrin and indigestible dextrin by enzymatic hydrolysis were 0.477 and 0.100 mg-glucose/ml/h, respectively. For this reason, residual glucose concentrations in batch cultures grown on indigestible dextrin remained below 1.32 mg/ml where glucose-limiting conditions were easily maintained. Batch culture using indigestible dextrin had the same residual glucose profile as dextrin fed-batch culture, and nearly the same GA activity was obtained after 42.5 h of growth. However, between 42.5 and 66 h, the GA production rate of the indigestible dextrin batch culture (11.5 mU/ml/h) was higher than that of the dextrin fed-batch culture (6.5 mU/ml/h). During this period, a high amount of residual maltooligosaccharide was detected in the culture supernatant grown on indigestible dextrin. The high GA productivity observed in the indigestible dextrin batch culture may have resulted from the absence of glucose and the simultaneous presence of maltooligosaccharides throughout growth.

Kinetics of the surface hydrolysis of raw starch by glucoamylase

The hydrolysis of raw starch catalyzed by glucoamylase has been studied with starch granules of different sizes by use of an amperometric glucose sensor by which the direct and continuous observation of the concentration of glucose can be achieved even in a thick raw starch suspension. The initial rate of the enzymatic hydrolysis in the raw starch suspension increased with increasing concentration of the enzyme to approach a saturation value and was proportional to the amount of substrate. Also, the rate was proportional to the specific surface area of the substrate. The experimental results can be explained well by the rate equations derived from a three-step mechanism, which consists of adsorption of the free enzyme onto the surface of the substrate, reaction of the adsorbed enzyme with the substrate, and liberation of the product.