Pectin degradation in UF-membrane reactors with commercial pectinases

Enzymatic degradation of pectin catalysed by Pectolyase Y23RM (Sheishin Co., Japan) was studied in ultrafiltration membrane reactors. The mixtures of degradation products were continuously ultrafiltrated in four cells connected in series and equipped with membrane of decreasing molecular weight cut-off. The different fractions recovered. The ratio of enzyme to substrate loading affected product distribution and particularly the yield of oligomers from 10 to 15 monomeric units. TLC analysis allowed to identify the composition of the samples at low molecular weight (below 0.5 KDa and 1 KDa). The rate of pectin degradation in batch reactors was not significantly affected by the presence of oligomers between 1 and 6 subunits