Enzymatic Synthesis of Higher Carbohydrates from Dextrose

Abstract

A 47.5% dextrose soln. (pH4.6) containing 4.07% of a purified precipltated enzyme prepn. derived from, Aspergillus oryzae was kept for 10 days at 5354[degree]C. The enzyme prepn. contained 400 alpha-amylase units per g. In addition it contained a large amt. of limit dextrinase. At the end of incubation, the fermentable carbohydrates were removed by fermentation with yeast; 66.6% of the dextrose originally present was fermentable. The unfermentable carbohydrate synthesized directly from dextrose by A. oryzae consisted mainly of iso-maltose. In addition there was a smaller quantity of an oligo-saccharide containing more than 2 dextrose units per molecule, since its mobility was less than that of isomaltose. Preliminary expts. with an enzyme prepn. derived from A. niger also showed a synthesizing action on dextrose under identical conditions.