Novel Heterogeneous Carbohydrase Reaction Systems for the Direct Conversion of Insoluble Carbohydrates: Reaction Characteristics and their Applications

Most carbohydrates exist in nature in an insoluble state, which reduces their susceptibility towards various carbohydrases. Accordingly, they require intensive pretreatment for structural modification to enhance an enzyme reaction. The direct conversion of insoluble carbohydrates has distinct advantages for special types of reaction, especially exo-type carbohydrase; however, its application is limited due to structural constraints. This paper introduces two novel heterogeneous enzyme reaction systems for direct conversion of insoluble carbohydrates; one is an attrition coupled enzyme reaction system containing attrition-milling media for enhancing the enzyme reaction, and the other is a heterogeneous enzyme reaction system using extruded starch as an insoluble substrate. The direct conversion of typically insoluble carbohydrates, including cellulose, starch, and chitin with their corresponding carbohydrases, including cellulase, amylase, chitinase, and cyclodextrin glucanotransferase, was carried out using two proposed enzyme reaction systems. The conceptual features of the systems, their reaction characteristics and mechanism, and the industrial applications of the various carbohydrates are analyzed in this review.