Enzymatic hydrolysis of soluble starch with an alpha-amylase from Bacillus licheniformis

The enzymatic hydrolysis of soluble starch with an alpha-amylase from Bacillus licheniformis (commercial enzyme Termamyl 300 L Type DX) have been experimentally studied at pH 7.5, within the temperature range of 37-75 degrees C, at initial substrate concentrations of between 0.25 and 2.00 g/L, and enzyme concentrations of between 0.575 x 10(-4) and 13.8 x 10(-4) g/L. To follow the reaction a procedure based on the iodometric method for measuring alpha-amylase activity was used. The kinetics of the enzymatic hydrolysis was fitted to the Michaelis-Menten equation using the integral method, taking into account that the thermal deactivation of the enzyme follows a second-order kinetic. These parameters were fitted to the Arrhenius equation obtaining activation energies of 24.4 and 41.7 kJ/mol and preexponential factors of 734.9 g/L and 1.74 x 10(8) min(-1) for K(M) and k, respectively.