Several commercial enzymes were screened for chitosanolytic activity. The hydrolysis of different chitosans was followed by size exclusion chromatography (SEC-ELSD), mass spectrometry (ESI-Q-TOF), and high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection (HPAEC-PAD). Neutrase 0.8L converted 10 g/L of various chitosans into mostly deacetylated oligosaccharides, yielding approximately 2.5 g/L of chitobiose, 4.5 g/L of chitotriose and 3 g/L of chitotetraose. In collaboration with the Institute of Parasitology and Biomedicine "Lopez-Neyra" (CSIC), the synthesized COS were tested in vitro for their neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory activities, and compared with other functional ingredients, namely fructooligosaccharides.
Reference: “Enzymatic production of fully deacetylated chitooligosaccharides and their neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory properties”. P. Santos-Moriano, L. Fernandez-Arrojo, M. Mengibar, E. Belmonte-Reche, P. Peñalver, F.N. Acosta, P. Kidibule, A.O. Ballesteros, J.C. Morales, M. Fernandez-Lobato and F.J. Plou.
Biocatalysis and Biotransformation (2017),
doi: 10.1080/10242422.2017.1295231
