β-Glucanase-assisted extraction of starch from glutinous barley

Abstract

:In the present study, β-glucanase-assisted extraction of starch from glutinous barley(Hinchal ssalbory) was investigated. β-glucanase was added to a coarse starch suspension obtained after wet milling in the starch extraction process. It was found that in the isolated starch with enzyme treatment, protein content was lower by 0.03%, compared to that with non-enzyme treatment. More importantly it was observed that the extraction yield of starch from enzyme treatment was found to be about 12% higher than the one from non-enzyme treatment (enzyme treated: 90.56%, non-enzyme treated: 78.46%). In order to elucidate this finding, the mass-balance determination of starch in each extraction step was carried out and found that the enzyme treatment might influence on the insoluble residues(R3 and R4 fractions) to hydrolyze β-glucan and other materials (e.g., mucilages etc.), thereby facilitated the separation of starch from it and a next filtration process. With a phase-contrast microscope it was observed that the isolated starch with enzyme treatment contained small starch granules more than the one with non-enzyme treatment and this might result in higher extraction yield observed with the former. In order to confirm this hypothesis, further experiments would be necessary.