Abstract
Chromatographic analyses were carried out on bean curd refuse decomposed by Bacillus sp. HR6 to evaluate the decomposition process. The water-soluble fraction possessed strong absorption bands (251 - 259 nm). Gel filtration chromatography showed that one of the major peaks, at a molecular weight of 1170, disappeared and that two peaks with molecular weights of 1040 and 1310 were newly detected. In the ether- and chloroform-soluble fractions, a novel peak at the molecular weight of 8890 was observed after 24 h of decomposition, although we did not detect peaks from such higher molecular weights in the original sample. These results indicate that not only the decomposition of many kinds of water-soluble compounds but also the polymerization of hydrophobic ones were carried out in this process.
