Purification and functional characterization of endo-beta-mannanase MAN5 and its application in oligosaccharide production from konjac flour.

MAN5, the main extracellular saccharide hydrolase from Bacillus sp. MSJ-5, is an endo-beta-mannanase with a demand of at least five sugar moieties for effective cleavage. It has a pH optimum of 5.5 and a temperature optimum of 50 degrees C and is stable at pH 5-9 or below 65 degrees C. MAN5 has a very high ability to hydrolyze konjac flour, 10 U/mg of which could completely liquefy konjac flour gum in 10 min at 50 degrees C. HPLC analysis showed that most glucomannan in the konjac flour was hydrolyzed into a large amount of oligosaccharides with DP of 2-6 and a very small amount of monosaccharide. With the culture supernatant as enzyme source, the optimum condition to prepare oligosaccharides from konjac flour was obtained as 10 mg/ml konjac flour incubated with 10 U/mg enzyme at 50 degrees C for 24 h. With this condition, more than 90% polysaccharides in the konjac flour solution were hydrolyzed into oligosaccharides and a little monosaccharide (2.98% of the oligosaccharides). Konjac flour is an underutilized agricultural material with low commercial value in China. With MAN5, konjac flour can be utilized to generate high value-added oligosaccharides. The high effectiveness and cheapness of this technique indicates its potential in industry.