PRODUCTION OF CELLOBIOSE BY ENZYMATIC-HYDROLYSIS - REMOVAL OF BETA-GLUCOSIDASE FROM CELLULASE BY AFFINITY PRECIPITATION USING CHITOSAN

Removal of beta-glucosidase (BG) from cellulase is essential to the enzymatic production of cellobiose from cellulose because of the high reactivity of BG with cellobiose to form glucose. Chitosan is a reversibly soluble-insoluble polymer depending on pH, and it does not conjugate with BG in the solution of cellulase while it has an affinity with the other components, endo-beta-1,4-glucanase and cellobiohydrolase, of cellulase. The affinity precipitation technique using chitosan is an effective way to fractionate cellulase for the above purpose. Hydrolysis experiments of cellulose with the residual fractionated enzyme gave higher cellobiose contents in the soluble sugar products.