Kinetic Studies on Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Polysaccharides by Amperometric Biosensors

Abstract

Kinetics of the enzymatic hydrolysis of insoluble polysaccharides has been studied by using amperometric biosensors. The hydrolysis of starch, cellulose, chitin, and chitosan, catalyzed by glucoamylase, cellobiohydrolase, chitinase, and chitosanase, respectively, has been successfully monitored by direct and continuous measurements of their products in thick suspensions without any influence of turbidity. The dependence of the hydrolytic rates on the enzyme concentration as well as on the amount and specific surface area of polysaccharides can be explained by the rate equation based on the Langmuir adsorption of free enzymes onto the surface of polysaccharides.