Kinetic Studies on Degradation of Pectin in Synthetic Pectin Solutions Using Immobilized Pectinase Enzyme

The degradation of synthetic pectin solution was studied in a batch reactor using commercial pectinase CCM. Pectinase was immobilized with sodium alginate using glutaraldehyde as a coupling agent. The activity of pectolyic enzymes was measured by the reduction in viscosity of synthetic pectin solutions. The studies were made at pH 4.5 and 25 degrees C. The pectin degradation was adequately represented by the Michaelis-Menten kinetics. Michaelis-Menten constant, K-m and Maximum reaction rate, V-max for the immobilized enzyme were found to be 3.579 pectin% (w/v) and 0.00296 pectin% (w/v)/sec respectively. The temperature dependence was assessed by Arrhenius law and the activation energy was found to be10.08 kcal/gmol. The differential rate data following Michaelis-Menten kinetics in a batch reactor was integrated numerically using Euler's Integration algorithm and the percentage deviation was found to be only 0.39% during the initial stages. The present experimental work shows the application of fall in viscosity in pectin solution as a means of pectin degradation for data processing.