Nam-Soon Oh

Process development for heme-enriched peptide by enzymatic hydrolysis of hemoglobin.

An efficient production method of heme-iron-enriched peptide was developed based on enzymatic hydrolysis. Hemoglobin hydrolysis, carried out stepwise with commercially available exopeptidase and endopeptidase, resulted in an increased degree of hydrolysis (DH). Exopeptidase-catalyzed protein hydrolysis formed low molecular weight peptides and amino acids. Different process parameters including dialysis and ultra- and diafiltration were evaluated. Heme/peptide ratio increased as molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) of the dialysis membrane increased. When the hydrolysate was dialyzed against sodium phosphate buffer, a higher heme/ peptide ratio was obtained. The heme/peptide ratio of the hydrolysate reached up to 25.4% when the dialysis was carried out with a membrane of 12-14 kDa MWCO. Also, the ratio was improved by the use of ultrafiltration and diafiltration on the pilot-scale.

Phytate degradation by immobilizedSaccharomyces cerevisiae phytase in soybean-curd whey

Saccharomyces cerevisiae CY phytase-producing cells were immobilized in calcium alginate beads and used for the degradation of phylate. The maximum activity and immobilization yield of the immobilized phytase reached 280 mU/g-bead and 43%, respectively. The optimal pH of the immobilized cell phytase was not different from that of the free cells. However, the optimum temperature for the immobilized phytase was 50°C, which was 10°C higher than that of the free cells; pH and thermal stability were enhanced as a consequence of immobilization. Using the immobilized phytase, phytate was degraded in a stirred tank bioreactor. Phytate degradation, both in a buffer solution and in soybean-curd whey mixture, showed very similar trends. At an enzyme dosage of 93.9 mU/g-phytate, half of the phytate was degraded after 1 h of hydrolysis. The operational stability of the immobilized beads was examined with repeated batchwise operations. Based on 50% conversion of the phytate and five times of reuse of the immobilized beads, the specific degradation (g phytate/g dry cell weight) for the immobilized phytase increased 170% compared to that of the free phytase.

Production of Glutathione by the Yeast Mutant Saccharomyces cerevisiae Sa59

The glutathione contents of the selected mutants were investigated and found to be 6.1-15.8 mg/g-DCW. The glutathione content positively correlated with the antioxidant activity of the mutant strains (

Protease and γ-glutamyltranspeptidase activities of bacillus spp. isolated from rice straw

Bacillus strains were isolated from the rice straw of 7 districts in Korea, and almost all were identified as either B. amyloliquefaciens, B. pumilus, or B. subtilis. The correlation between the protease activity and γ-glutamyltranspeptidase activity produced by the identified Bacillus spp. was positively correlated (R2rF0.747). Statistically, the B. subtilis species might be the most potent producer of protease and γ-glutamyltranspeptidase of 3 identified Bacillus strains.