Kinetics of condensation of glucose into maltose and isomaltose in hydrolysis of starch by glucoamylase.

Kinetics of the condensation of glucose into maltose and isomaltose in the hydrolysis of starch by two types of glucoamylase (from Aspergillus niger and Rhizopus niveus) was studied both experimentally and theoretically. A kinetic model for the hydrolysis of starch by glucoamylase from A. niger was proposed. In this model the reversible hydrolysis of maltose and isomaltose and the kinetic parameters change were taken into consideration. Calculated values agreed approximately with the experimental results, and this simple kinetic model was found to have practical use. The rate of condensation of glucose into isomaltose by enzyme from A. niger was about three times larger than that by enzyme from R. niveus. At a higher initial concentration of starch a large amount of isomaltose was reversed, and the glucose yield was reduced significantly after very long reaction times.