Vol. 12, Special Issue 11 (2023)

Author(s):
RY Sushmita, CT Manoj Kumar, K Jayaraj Rao, S Supreetha, MH Sathish Kumar and Priyanka Singh Rao

Abstract:
Galactooligosaccharides (GOS) are the non-digestible oligomers of galactose linked to β terminal end of glucose or galactose and are recognized as functional food ingredients. GOS are produced by transgalactosylation reaction mediated by β-galactosidase enzyme where galactosyl residues are transferred to lactose molecules. Generally, β-galactosidase suffers from loss of catalytic activity at high substrate concentration, instability to severe environmental conditions and no subsequent reuse. It can be overcome by immobilizing the enzyme on proper support materials. In the present study, the β-galactosidase was immobilized on zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) and evaluated its effect on production of GOS at different enzyme concentration. The GOS content was determined using thin layer chromatography analysis. The study revealed that GOS content was observed above 0.1% concentration of both free and nano-immobilized enzymes. With increase in the concentration of both enzymes, the concentration of GOS was increased. However, the samples treated with immobilized enzyme (at lower concentration) showed thicker GOS bands indicates higher efficiency of GOS production.