Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Crystalline Chitin in an Agitated Bead Reaction System and Its Reaction Characteristics

Native crystalline chitin was hydrolyzed in an agitated bead reaction system using crude chitinase excreted from Aspergillus fumigatus JC-19. The reaction was enhanced significantly, and the concentration and yield of reducing sugar after 48 hours were measured to be 35.42 g/I (w/v) and 0.64, respectively, around 1.86 times higher than those of the conventional system that was carried out without glass beads. The effect of reaction conditions, such as the amounts of chitin, chitinase and glass beads, and the size of glass bead, were examined. Ball milled chitin was also hydrolyzed in the agitated bead reaction system, the conversion yield and reaction rate of ball milled chitin for 24 hours increased up to 0.87 and 48.02 g/I, respectively. Chitinase showed relatively high stability in the agitated bead reaction system, particularly in the presence of enzyme stabilizer, $Ca^{++}$, which played a critical role in preventing the deactivation of chitinase by the physical impact of glass beads. The variations of the structural features of chitin during the reaction were followed by SEM and X-ray diffraction, and the enhanced hydrolysis reaction was caused by both the fragmentation of chitin particles and the destruction of the crystalline structure owing to the synergic effects of the attrition of glass beads and the hydrolytic action of chitinase.