Valorisation of a leguminous specie, Sesbania grandiflora, by means of hydrothermal fractionation

For the purpose of hydrolysing hemicelluloses to oligomers and monomers, Sesbania grandiflora samples were subjected to isothermal autohydrolysis in the temperatures ranging from 145 °C to 190 °C, using a solid to liquid ratio of 8 and reaction times up to 7.5 h. Kinetic models based on sequential pseudo-homogeneous first order Kinetics with Arrhenius type temperature dependence were employed for describing the time course of the main hemicelluloses compounds and their degradation products. The hydrothermal treatment results show that Sesbania grandiflora can be employed as an alternative raw material for the production of XOS leading to high concentrations of XOS (14.1 g/L in the experiment carried out at 190 °C and 0.1 h) and xylan to XOS conversion (62.6% in the experiment carried out at 190 °C and 6 min). The model proposed provides a satisfactory interpretation of the experimental data obtained in the hydrothermal treatments of this study.     

Formation of extracellular and intracellular ice during warming of vitrified mouse morulae and its effect on embryo survival

In vitrified solutions, ice can form during warming if the concentration of the cryoprotectant is insufficient. For the cryopreservation of cells, ice is innocuous when it remains outside the cell, but intracellular ice (ICI) is lethal. We tried to estimate the conditions in which ICI forms in vitrified mouse morulae during warming. The solutions for the experiments (EFS10–EFS50) contained 10–50% ethylene glycol plus Ficoll plus sucrose. When vitrified EFS20, EFS30, and EFS40 were kept at −80 °C, they remained transparent after 3 min, but turned opaque after 60 min (EFS20, EFS30) or 24 h (EFS40). Morulae were vitrified with EFS solutions after exposure for 30–120 s at 25 °C. They were warmed by various methods and survival was assessed in culture. After rapid warming (control), survival was high with EFS30 (79–93%) and EFS40 (96–99%). After slow warming, survival decreased with both EFS30 (48–62%) and EFS40 (44–64%). This must be from the formation of ICI. To examine the temperature at which ICI formed during slow warming, vitrified embryos were kept at various sub-zero temperatures during warming. Survival with EFS30 and EFS40 decreased on keeping samples for 3 min at −80 (25–75%), −60 (7–49%), −40 (0–41%), or −20 °C (26–60%). When samples were kept at −80 °C for 24 h, the survival decreased to 0–14%. These results suggest that ICI forms at a wide range of temperatures including −80 and −20 °C, more likely between −60 and −40 °C, and the ice forms not only quickly but also slowly.     

Biodegradation of Methyl red by Galactomyces geotrichum MTCC 1360

Galactomyces geotrichum MTCC 1360 can decolorize triphenylmethane, azo and reactive high exhaust textile dyes. At shaking condition this strain showed 100% decolorization of a toxic azo dye Methyl red (100 m gl⁻¹) within 1 h in deionized water at 30 °C. The degradation of Methyl red was possible through a broad pH (3–12) and temperature (5–50 °C) range. Glucose and mycelium concentration had increased the decolorization rate, but the addition of 1 gl⁻¹ molasses in deionized water made decolorization possible in only 10 min. Induction in the NADH–dichloro phenol indophenol (NADH–DCIP) reductase, Malachite green reductase, laccase and lignin peroxidase (Lip) activities were observed in the cells obtained after complete decolorization, showing that there is direct involvement in the degradation of Methyl red. The absence of N-N′-dimethyl-p-phenylenediamine (DMPD) in 5 °C, 2-aminobenzoic acid (ABA) in 50 °C and both the compounds in 30 °C sample have shown the differences in the metabolic fate of Methyl red at different temperatures. The untreated dye at 300 mg l⁻¹ concentration showed 88% germination inhibition in Sorghum bicolor, whereas it was 72% in Triticum aestivum. There was no germination inhibition for both the plants by Methyl red metabolites at 300 mg l⁻¹ concentration.

The scientific relevance of the paper

The azo dye Methyl red (100 mg l⁻¹) was decolorized by G. geotrichum MTCC 1360 within 1 h at shaking condition in deionized water. This organism could decolorize Methyl red at wide pH and temperature ranges. Decolorization time was reduced to 10 min by the addition of molasses to deionized water. There was induction in laccase and Lip, NADH–DCIP reductase and Malachite green reductase activities. The metabolic fate of Methyl red changes with temperature which can be evidenced by the formation of 2-ABA at 5 °C, N-N′-DMPD at 50 °C and both the compounds were absent at 30 °C. Phytotoxicity showed that metabolites of dye had induced shoot and root length of both the tested plants.     

Thermal degradation kinetics of the phycocyanin from Spirulina platensis

The cyanobacterium Spirulina platensis is a source of pigments, such as phycocyanin, which is used in the food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. The thermal degradation kinetics of the liquid extract at pH values of 5, 6 and 7 was studied, evaluating its stability between 50 and 65 °C. The kinetic model was assumed and validated as being of the first order. Between 50 and 55 °C the extract was more stable at pH 6 and between 57 and 65 °C at pH 5, but was shown to be increasingly unstable at pH 7 as the temperature of the treatment increased. The addition of sorbitol between 10 and 50% (w/w) in the treatment at 62 °C for 30 min increased the half-life values of the phycocyanin extract, proving that its de-colorization was related to degradation of the protein chain.     

Effect of chilling on porcine germinal vesicle stage oocytes at the subcellular level

The potential subcellular consequence of chilling on porcine germinal vesicle (GV) stage oocytes was examined. Prior to in vitro maturation (IVM), Cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) freshly collected from antral follicles (3–6 mm in diameter) were evenly divided into four groups and immediately incubated in PVA-TL-HEPES medium at the temperature of 39 °C (control group), 23 °C (room temperature), 15 °C and 10 °C for 10 min, respectively. Following 42 h of IVM at 39 °C, the survival rates were examined. There was no significant difference between the survival rate of 23 °C chilled group and control group (77.92 and 91.89%), but the survival rate of 15 and 10 °C chilled group were significantly decreased (46.34 and 4.81%, P < 0.01). A further experiment on15 °C group showed that most oocytes died from 2 to 4 h of IVM. In order to investigate the effects of chilling on oocytes at the subcellular level, the control and 15 °C chilled group COCs fixed at different time points of the IVM cultures (2, 2.5, 3, 3.5 and 4 h of IVM) were prepared for transmission electron microscope (TEM) observation. As the result, compared with the control group, there were two significant changes in the ultrastructural morphology of 15 °C treatment group: (1) dramatic reduction of heterogeneous lipid, (2) disorganized mitochondria–endoplasmic reticulum–lipid vesicles (M–E–L) combination. These results indicate that 15 °C is a critical chilling temperature for porcine GV stage oocyte and the alteration of cellular chemical composition and the destruction of M–E–L combination maybe responsible for chilling injury of porcine oocyte at this stage.     

The dominance of warming rate over cooling rate in the survival of mouse oocytes subjected to a vitrification procedure

The formation of more than trace amounts of ice in cells is lethal. The two contrasting routes to avoiding it are slow equilibrium freezing and vitrification. The cryopreservation of mammalian oocytes by either method continues to be difficult, but there seems a slowly emerging consensus that vitrification procedures are somewhat better for mouse and human oocytes. The approach in these latter procedures is to load cells with high concentrations of glass-inducing solutes and cool them at rates high enough to induce the glassy state. Several devices have been developed to achieve very high cooling rates. Our study has been concerned with the relative influences of warming rate and cooling rate on the survival of mouse oocytes subjected to a vitrification procedure. Oocytes suspended in an ethylene glycol–acetamide–Ficoll–sucrose solution were cooled to −196 °C at rates ranging from 37 to 1827 °C/min between 20 and −120 °C, and for each cooling rate, warmed at rates ranging from 139 to 2950 °C/min between −70 and −35 °C. The results are unambiguous. If the samples were warmed at the highest rate, survivals were >80% over cooling rates of 187–1827 °C/min. If the samples were warmed at the lowest rate, survivals were near 0% regardless of the cooling rate. We interpret the lethality of slow warming to be a consequence of it allowing time for the growth of small intracellular ice crystals by recrystallization.     

Towards whole sheep ovary cryopreservation

Cryopreservation of ovarian tissue aims to assist young women who require treatments that may lead to sterility or infertility. Cryopreservation procedures should therefore be as simple and efficient as possible. This study investigates rapid cooling outcomes for whole sheep ovaries. Ovaries were perfused with VS4 via the ovarian artery, and cooled by quenching in liquid nitrogen in less than a minute (estimated cooling rate above 300 °C/min till the vitreous transition temperature). The ovaries were rewarmed in two stages: slow warming (12–16 °C/min from −196 to −133 °C) in liquid nitrogen vapour, followed by rapid thawing in a 45 °C water bath at about 200 °C/min. DSC measurements showed that under these cryopreservation conditions VS4 would vitrify, but that VS4 perfused ovarian cortex fragments did not vitrify, but formed ice (around 18.4%). Immediately following rewarming, a dye exclusion test indicated that 61.4 ± 2.2% of small follicles were viable while histological analysis showed that 48 ± 3.8% of the primordial follicles were normal. It remains to be clarified whether follicle survival rates will increase if conditions allowing complete tissue vitrification were used.     

Imbibitional damage in conidia of the entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium acridum, and Metarhizium anisopliae

When dried organisms are immersed in water, rapid imbibition may cause severe damage to plasma membranes; in unicellular organisms, such damage is usually lethal. This study investigated effects of water activity (dryness) of organisms and immersion temperature on imbibitional damage in three insect pathogenic fungi. Conidial powders of Beauveria bassiana (Bb), Metarhizium anisopliae (Ma) and Metarhizium acridum (Mac) were dried/hydrated to a broad range of water activities (a_w) (0.023–0.961) prior to immersion in water at 0.5–33 °C. Imbibitional damage in conidia of each fungus occurred rapidly, with no differences in viabilities observed following immersion for 2 vs. 60 min. Damage increased with decreasing water activity of the conidia and decreasing temperature of the immersion water. Dry (a_w  0.333) Metarhizium spp. conidia were highly susceptible to imbibitional damage, with viability declining to 5% after immersion at 0.5 °C and 63% following immersion at 15 °C. Germination of the driest Ma conidia was reduced to 66% after treatment at 25 °C. In contrast, Bb was highly tolerant to damage, with significant reductions in viability (to levels as low as 43–65%) occurring only when dry conidia were immersed at 0.5 °C. Damage was prevented when conidia were slowly rehydrated by humidification prior to immersion and immersion temperature was increased to 33–34 °C; germination of all fungi was 94% under these optimal conditions. However, immersion of the driest Bb, Ma, and Mac powders in warm water (33 °C) also resulted in high viabilities (95%, 89%, and 94%, respectively), and slow-rehydrated conidia also retained high viability (87%, 92%, and 83%, respectively) after immersion in ice-cold water (0.5 °C). Formulation of conidia in pure (non-emulsifiable) paraffinic oil provided considerable protection from imbibitional damage. This study underscores a need for establishing standard protocols for preparing aqueous suspensions of sensitive fungi for both research and commercial applications.     

Immobilization of soybean (Glycine max) urease on alginate and chitosan beads showing improved stability: Analytical applications

The soybean (Glycine max) urease was immobilized on alginate and chitosan beads and various parameters were optimized and compared. The best immobilization obtained were 77% and 54% for chitosan and alginate, respectively. A 2% chitosan solution (w/v) was used to form beads in 1N KOH. The beads were activated with 1% glutaraldehyde and 0.5 mg protein was immobilized per ml of chitosan gel for optimum results. The activation and coupling time were 6 h and 12 h, respectively. Further, alginate and soluble urease were mixed to form beads and final concentrations of alginate and protein in beads were 3.5% (w/v) and 0.5 mg/5 ml gel. From steady-state kinetics, the optimum temperature for urease was 65 °C (soluble), 75 °C (chitosan) and 80 °C (alginate). The activation energies were found to be 3.68 kcal mol⁻¹, 5.02 kcal mol⁻¹, 6.45 kcal mol⁻¹ for the soluble, chitosan- and alginate-immobilized ureases, respectively. With time-dependent thermal inactivation studies, the immobilized urease showed improved stability at 75 °C and the t_1/2 of decay in urease activity was 12 min, 43 min and 58 min for soluble, alginate and chitosan, respectively. The optimum pH of urease was 7, 6.2 and 7.9 for soluble, alginate and chitosan, respectively. A significant change in K_m value was noticed for alginate-immobilized urease (5.88 mM), almost twice that of soluble urease (2.70 mM), while chitosan showed little change (3.92 mM). The values of V_max for alginate-, chitosan-immobilized ureases and soluble urease were 2.82 × 10² μmol NH₃ min⁻¹ mg⁻¹ protein, 2.65 × 10² μmol NH₃ min⁻¹ mg⁻¹ protein and 2.85 × 10² μmol NH₃ min⁻¹ mg⁻¹ protein, respectively. By contrast, reusability studies showed that chitosan–urease beads can be used almost 14 times with only 20% loss in original activity while alginate–urease beads lost 45% of activity after same number of uses. Immobilized urease showed improved stability when stored at 4 °C and t_1/2 of urease was found to be 19 days, 80 days and 121 days, respectively for soluble, alginate and chitosan ureases. The immobilized urease was used to estimate the blood urea in clinical samples. The results obtained with the immobilized urease were quite similar to those obtained with the autoanalyzer^®. The immobilization studies have a potential role in haemodialysis machines.     

Thermoregulation of water foraging wasps (Vespula vulgaris and Polistes dominulus)

A comparison of the thermoregulation of water foraging wasps (Vespula vulgaris, Polistes dominulus) under special consideration of ambient temperature and solar radiation was conducted. The body surface temperature of living and dead wasps was measured by infrared thermography under natural conditions in their environment without disturbing the insects’ behaviour. The body temperature of both of them was positively correlated with T_a and solar radiation. At moderate T_a (22–28 °C) the regression lines revealed mean thorax temperatures (T_th) of 35.5–37.5 °C in Vespula, and of 28.6–33.7 °C in Polistes. At high T_a (30–39 °C) T_th was 37.2–40.6 °C in Vespula and 37.0–40.8 °C in Polistes. The thorax temperature excess (T_th–T_a) increased at moderate T_a by 1.9 °C (Vespula) and 4.4 °C (Polistes) per kW⁻¹ m⁻². At high T_a it increased by 4.0 °C per kW⁻¹ m⁻² in both wasps. A comparison of the living water foraging Vespula and Polistes with dead wasps revealed a great difference in their thermoregulatory behaviour. At moderate T_a (22–28 °C) Vespula exhibited distinct endothermy in contrast to Polistes, which showed only a weak endothermic activity. At high T_a (30–39 °C) Vespula reduced their active heat production, and Polistes were always ectothermic. Both species exhibited an increasing cooling effort with increasing insolation and ambient temperature.     

An eco-friendly – novel approach for attaining wrinkle – free/soft-hand cotton fabric

A novel approach for upgrading both the wrinkle free and softness properties of cotton fabrics without adversely affecting their strength properties using an eco-friendly finishing regimes was investigated. Factors affecting the performance properties of the finished substrate such as pre-treatment, i.e., carboxymethylation (CMC) or ionic-crosslinking, post-treatment with amino functional silicone softener and its concentration, degree of carboxymethylation as well as thermofixation conditions were studied. The obtained results revealed that post-treatment with the amino based silicone micro emulsion (SiE) up to 30 g/L at pH 4 to a wet pickup of 100% followed by drying at 100 °C for 5 min and curing at 170 °C for 3 min results in a remarkable improvement in fabric resiliency (expressed as dry and wet wrinkle recovery angles), as well as in softness degree, without seriously affecting its retained strength. Improvement extent of the aforementioned properties is governed by the nature of the pre-treatment steps. Fixation of the amino-functional silicone softener onto/or within the modified cellulose structure is accompanied by a formation of semi-inter and/or intra-penetrated network (semi-IPN) thereby enhancing both the extent of crosslinking and networking as well as providing very high softness. FTIR analysis proved the formation of Si–O–Si–cellulose complex. Scanning electron micrograph shows that cotton, CMC and ionic crosslinked cotton fabrics treated with SiE shows higher surface smoothness and considerable reduction in protruding loose fibers, ditches and grooves compared with the untreated one.     

Acid tolerance response induced in the biocontrol agent Pantoea agglomerans CPA-2 and effect on its survival ability in acidic environments

The aim of this work was to optimize acid stress conditions for induction of acid tolerance response (ATR) in the biocontrol agent Pantoea agglomerans and study the effect of ATR induced on the ability to survive under acidic conditions. Initially, Pantoea agglomerans was grown in mild acidic conditions (pH 6.0, 5.5, 5.0 and 4.0) in order to induce ATR. The highest ATR was induced at initial pH of 5 using malic or citric acid. A first in vitro experiment was carried out. Thus, basal liquid medium at different pHs (3.0, 3.5, 4.0 and non-acidified) were then inoculated with acid-adapted and non-adapted inocula of P. agglomerans and survivals were examined during incubation at 25 or 4 °C. It was found that acid adaptation enhanced the survivals of Pantoea agglomerans CPA-2 cells at pH levels at which the cells were unable to grow (<3.5 and 4.0, at 25 and 4 °C, respectively). In contrast, in pH levels at which the cells were able to grow (pH 4.0 at 25 °C and non-acidified medium at 25 and 4 °C) no-differences were found between adapted and non-adapted cells. In in vivo tests, adapted and non-adapted cells were inoculated in wounds on mandarins and pome fruits. No differences were found between adapted and non-adapted cells and biocontrol efficacy was maintained. The present study demonstrated that exposure of Pantoea agglomerans to mild acidic conditions could induce acid resistance in this biocontrol agent.     

Bovine serum albumin partitioning in an aqueous two-phase system: Effect of pH and sodium chloride concentration

The partitioning of bovine serum albumin (BSA) in a polyethylene glycol 3350 (8% w/w)–dextran 37 500 (6% w/w)–0.05 M phosphate aqueous two-phase was investigated at different pHs, at varying concentrations of sodium chloride at 20°C. The effect of NaCl concentration on the partition coefficient of BSA was studied for the PEG–dx systems with initial pH values of 4.2, 5.0, 7.0, 9.0, and 9.8. The NaCl concentrations in the phase systems with constant pH value were 0.06, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.34 M. It was observed that the BSA partition coefficient decreased at concentrations smaller than 0.2 M NaCl and increased at concentrations greater than 0.2 M NaCl for all systems with initial pHs of 4.2, 5.0, 7.0, 9.0, and 9.8. It was also seen that the partition coefficient of BSA decreased as the pH of the aqueous two-phase systems increased at any NaCl salt concentration studied.     

Purification and characterization of a thermostable intracellular β-xylosidase from the thermophilic fungus Sporotrichum thermophile

An intracellular β-xylosidase from the thermophilic fungus Sporotricum thermophile strain ATCC 34628 was purified to homogeneity by Q-Sepharose and Mono-Q column chromatographies. The protein properties correspond to molecular mass and pI values of 45 kDa and 4.2, respectively. The enzyme is optimally active at pH 7.0 and 50 °C. The purified β-xylosidase is fully stable at pH 6.0–8.0 and temperatures up to 50 °C and retained over 58% of its activity after 1 h at 60 °C. The enzyme hydrolyzes β-1,4-linked xylo-oligosaccharides with chain lengths from 2 to 6, releasing xylose from the non-reducing end, but is inactive against xylan substrates. The apparent K_m and V_max values from p-nitrophenyl β-d-xylopyranoside are 1.1 mM and 114 μmol p-nitrophenol min⁻¹ mg⁻¹, respectively. Alcohols inactivate the enzyme, ethanol at 10% (v/v) yields a 30% decrease of its activity. The enzyme is irreversibly inhibited by 2,3-epoxypropyl β-d-xylobioside while alkyl epoxides derived from d-xylose were not inhibitors of the enzyme. The enzyme catalyses the condensation reaction using high donor concentration, up to 60% (w/v) xylose.     

Thermophilic biohydrogen production by an anaerobic heat treated-hot spring culture

Batch experiments were conducted to investigate the thermophilic biohydrogen production using an enrichment culture from a Turkish hot spring. Following the enrichment, the culture was heat treated at 100 °C for 10 min to select for spore-forming bacteria. H₂ production was accompanied by production of acetate, butyrate, lactate and ethanol. H₂ production was associated by acetate–butyrate type fermentation while accumulation of lactate and ethanol negatively affected the H₂ yield. H₂ production was highest in the temperature range from 49.6 to 54.8 °C and optimum values for initial pH and concentrations of iron, yeast extract and glucose were 6.5, 40 mg/l, 4–13.5 g/l, respectively. PCR–DGGE profiling showed that the heat treated culture consisted of species closely affiliated to genus Thermoanaerobacterium.     

Silanized palygorskite for lipase immobilization

Lipase from Candida lipolytica has been immobilized on 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane-modified palygorskite support. Scanning electron micrographs proved the covalently immobilization of C. lipolytica lipase on the palygorskite support through glutaraldehyde. Using an optimized immobilization protocol, a high activity of 3300 U/g immobilized lipase was obtained. Immobilized lipase retained activity over wider ranges of temperature and pH than those of the free enzyme. The optimum pH of the immobilized lipase was at pH 7.0–8.0, while the optimum pH of free lipase was at 7.0. The retained activity of the immobilized enzyme was improved both at lower and higher pH in comparison to the free enzyme. The immobilized enzyme retained more than 70% activity at 40 °C, while the free enzyme retained only 30% activity. The immobilization stabilized the enzyme with 81% retention of activity after 10 weeks at 30 °C whereas most of the free enzyme was inactive after a week. The immobilized enzyme retains high activity after eight cycles. The kinetic constants of the immobilized and free lipase were also determined. The K_m and V_max values of immobilized lipase were 0.0117 mg/ml and 4.51 μmol/(mg min), respectively.     

Effects of aluminum and cadmium toxicity on growth and antioxidant enzyme activities of two barley genotypes with different Al resistance

A hydroponic experiment was carried out to study genotypic differences in effect of Al and Cd on growth and antioxidant enzyme activities by using 2 two-row winter barley genotypes (Hordeum vulgare L.) with different Al resistance, the relatively resistant Gebeina and the sensitive Shang 70–119. The seedling growth, presented as shoot height, root length and dry weight of root and shoot, and tillers per plant were inhibited by all stress treatments, including low pH, 100 M Al (pH 4.0) and 1.0 M Cd+100 M Al (pH 4.0), while 1.0 M Cd showed a slight stimulation of growth. The inhibition was more severe in 1.0 M Cd +100 M Al (pH 4.0) than in 100 M Al (pH 4.0), indicating that the effect of Cd and Al is synergistic. Al-sensitive genotype Shang 70–119 was more inhibited than Al-resistant genotype Gebeina. Proline concentration in leaves was significantly increased when plants were exposed to all stress treatments, being more pronounced in Shang 70–119 than in Gebeina. A highly significant increase in malonaldehyde (MDA) concentration, and a stimulation of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) activities were recorded in the plants subjected to low pH, 100 M Al (pH 4.0) and 1.0 M Cd +100 M Al(pH 4.0) treatments, and the extent of the increase varied greatly depending on concentration and time of exposure. Shang 70–119 had a higher MDA concentration, and less increase in SOD activity when first exposed than Gebeina had.     

Effect of seabuckthorn leaf extracts on circulating energy fuels, lipid peroxidation and antioxidant parameters in rats during exposure to cold, hypoxia and restraint (C–H–R) stress and post stress recovery

The present study was carried out to study mechanism of adaptogenic activity of seabuckthorn leaf extract, administered orally in rats both in single and five doses at a dose of 100 mg/kg body weight 30 min prior to C–H–R exposure. The efficacy of the extract was studied on circulating energy fuels, lipid peroxidation and anti-oxidant parameters in rats on attaining the T_rec 23 °C during C–H–R exposure and after recovery (T_rec 37 °C) from C–H–R induced hypothermia. Single dose treatment in rats restricted rise in blood malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and decrease in glutathione (GSH) and catalase (CAT) levels. Both single and five doses also restricted the rise in serum free fatty acids (FFA) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels on attaining T_rec 23 °C during C–H–R exposure, suggesting more efficient utilization of FFA for energy production and better maintained cell membrane permeability. This suggested that the adaptogenic activity of the extract might be due to its anti-oxidative activity, maintained blood glucose levels, better utilization of FFA and improved cell membrane permeability.     

Immobilization of alliinase with a water soluble–insoluble reversible N-succinyl-chitosan for allicin production

N-Succinyl-chitosan (NSC), a pH-sensitive polymer of reversibly soluble–insoluble characteristics with pH change, was prepared by modification of the chitosan backbone with succinic anhydride and employed as carrier for alliinase immobilization. The obtained NSC is soluble at pH above 4.8 and insoluble at pH below 4.4. The characteristics of NSC were evaluated using Fourier transform IR spectrophotometer, the X-ray diffraction spectrometry and thermogravimetric analyzer. Under an optimized condition (glutaraldehyde 0.8% (v/v), 31.2 U alliinase), the enzyme immobilization yield was 75.6%. The maximum activity of NSCA was achieved at 40 °C, pH 7, while the free enzyme exhibited maximum activity at 30 °C, pH 6. The Michaelis–Menten constant of NSCA was lower than that of free alliinase, indicating higher affinity of immobilized enzyme toward its substrate. The NSCA retained 85% of its initial activity even after being recycled 5 times. The immobilized alliinase in reversibly soluble NSC is suitable to catalyze the conversion of alliin to allicin, as active ingredient of pharmaceutical compositions and food additive.