Studies on alpha-amylase induced degradation of binary polymeric blends of crosslinked starch and pectin.

A blend matrix of crosslinked starch and pectin was prepared and characterized by infra-red (IR) spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The prepared blends were investigated kinetically for water sorption studies and alpha-amylase induced degradation adopting a gravimetric procedure. Based on the experimental findings, a plausible mechanism including both diffusion and surface enhanced degradation was suggested and degradation profiles were interpreted. The influence of various factors such as chemical architecture of the blend, pH and temperature of alpha-amylase solution were examined for the swelling and degradation kinetics of crosslinked starch-pectin blends. The effect of concentration of enzyme solution was also studied on the degradation profile of the blends. A correlation was established between the extent of degradation and water imbibing capacity of the degrading blends.