Extraction of β-Glucan from the Water-insoluble Residue of Hericium erinaceum with Combined Treatments of Enzyme and Microwave Irradiation

Abstract

We attempted to extract (1→3;1→6)-β-D-glucan from the water-insoluble residue of Hericium erinaceum with proteolytic and chitin degrading enzyme treatments followed by microwave irradiation. Two sets of four commercially available enzymes were used in this study; Actinase E, Proteinase K, Chitinase-RS and Chitinase. The results showed that the enzyme treatment using Proteinase K and Chitinase simultaneously had the most significant synergistic effects on the amount of glucan extracted; 95.5% of the amount of glucan extractable with 5% sodium hydroxide. The structure of (1→3;1→6)-β-D-glucan obtained by this enzyme treatment was different from that obtained by extraction with alkaline solution in that the former was rich in (1→6) linkages, whereas the latter was rich in (1→3) linkages.