Cultural Conditions for the Production of Saccharogenic Amylase During Rice-Koji Making by Aspergillus awamori var. kawachii

Aspergillus awamori var. kawachii에 의한 쌀 Koji제조시 당화효소의 생산조건

This study was carried out to investigate the influences of cultural conditions of koji on the production of saccharogenic amylase during rice-koji making by Aspergillus awamori var. kawachii which is now widely used as koji-mold in brewing Tikju and Yakju in Korea. The optimum cultural temperature for the production of saccharogenic amylase by this mold was 36$^{\circ}C$, and at this temperature it needed 40 hours of cultivation for maximum production of this enzyme. It was favorable for high production of both organic acid and saccharogenic amylase to shift the cultural temperature form initial 36$^{\circ}C$ to 32$^{\circ}C$ after 20~25 hours of cultivation. The production of saccharogenic amylase was low when the water content of steamed rice was below 35%, but its production was high at 40~60% of water content. When the quantity of conidial inoculation was too small, the production of saccharogenic amylase was low in initial phase, but it was retrived after 40 hours of cultivation. When koji-thickness was over 3cm, the production of saccharogenic amylase was markedly restricted. The saccharogenic amylase of this koji was stable at pH 2~7, and showed high activity at pH 2~5.