• Macromolecular Research
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• 제16권1호
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• pp.1-5
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• 2008

The enzymatic hydrolysis of chitin has been studied for almost a century, and early work established that at least two enzymes are required, a chitinase that mainly yields the disaccharide N,N'-diacetylchitobiose, or $(GlcNAc)_2$, and a "chitobiase", or ${\beta}$-N-acetylglucosaminidase, which gives the final product G1cNAc. This pathway has not been completely identified but has remained the central concept for the chitin catabolism through the $20^{th}$ century1 including in marine bacteria. However, the chitin catabolic cascade is quite complex, as described in this review. This report describes three biologically functional genes involved in the chitin catabolic cascade of Vibrios in an attempt to better understand the metabolic pathway of chitin.

• 식품과학과 산업
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• 제53권1호
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• pp.43-55
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• 2020

Most reports demonstrated the substrate specificity-based kinetic properties of chitin or chitosan degrading enzymes. However, there is virtually less information on the high quality and quantity production of chitin or chitosan hydrolysates having a larger than (GlcN)₇ from the hydrolysis of high molecular weight chitosan using specific enzymes and their biological activity. Therefore, the production of such molecules and the discovery of such enzyme sources are very important. Fortunately, the author has established a mass production method of chitosan hydrolysates (GlcN)_n, n=2-13 that have been characterized as a potent antioxidant substance, as well as antifungal and antibacterial activities against Penicillium species and highly selective pathogenic bacteria. In addition, preclinical studies using (GlcN)_n, n=5-25 demonstrated that these molecules played a very important role in maintaining biometric balance. Collectively, it is implicated that the application of these mixed substances to foods with significant biological activity is very encouraging.