Progress in the Enzymatic Saccharification of Wheat Starch

Problems were noticed when trying to include wheat starch to the normal liquefaction and saccharification lines because of the formation of precipitations which are difficult to filter. The effects of different side activities of Aspergillus niger glucoamylases on the filterability of wheat syrups are demonstrated. In order to speed up filtration, viscosity has to be decreased by degradation of arabinoxylanes with present pentosanes. A new enzyme has been discovered which is able to split partially the lysophospholipids contained in wheat starch and let the insoluble components flocculate to big particles. This enzyme splits the phospholipids into free fatty acids and glycerophophorylcholines. The properties of this enzyme present in a novel glucoamylase preparation for the wheat starch processing are demonstrated by using an HPLC method, showing the degradation of wheat lipids as well as synthetic lysophopholipids.