Enzymatic degradation of starch based thermoplastic compounds used in protheses

The present work presents the degradation behaviour of blends of corn starch with poly(ethylene-vinyl alcohol) copolymer(SEVA-C). The characterization included long-term degradation trials on simulated physiological solution with alpha-amylase up to 200 days, and the degradation solutions were analysed by several techniques. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and colorimetric methods were used to monitor the liberation of carbohydrate as a consequence of starch hydrolysis by alpha-amylase from the starch hydrolysates. It was possible to identify several degradation products such as carbohydrates ranging from C-6 to C-18. The action of alpha-amylase solely led to the degradation of starch, in contrast with other assays without enzymes where no carbohydrates were found in the degradation solutions.