Application of calcium alginate immobilized and crude pectin lyase from Bacillus cereus in degumming of plant fibres

In this study, the purified pectin lyase was immobilized in calcium alginate beads and compared with crude enzyme for application in degumming of buel and banana plant fibres. From the data of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), it was observed that untreated buel fibres were covered by non-cellulosic materials (pectin, hemicelluloses and waxes) and the surface of enzymatically treated buel fibres looked smoother. Also, the crude alkaline pectin lyase treated buel fibre exhibited a considerably cleaner surface, which suggested that the crude pectin lyase could provide better degumming effects in comparison to the immobilized pectin lyase. In case of banana fibre, the FTIR spectroscopy showed that both crude and immobilized alkaline pectin lyase treatments of banana plant fibres were equally efficient in degumming. The enzymatic degumming of buel and banana with crude pectin lyase resulted in maximum release of galacturonide after 24 h for buel and 15 h for banana fibre. The optimum temperature for degumming of buel and banana fibres with crude pectin lyase was found to be 50 degrees C and 45 degrees C, respectively. Also, the maximum galacturonide was released with 200 and 250 U of pectin lyase for buel and banana fibre, respectively.