ENZYMATIC HYDROLYSIS OF MOLASSES

Abstract

Introduction:
In the next sugarcane harvest only 23 mills will grind to produce sugar. The rest must look for alternatives to generate income. Some are going to produce molasses, from leftover cane, as raw material for their own distilleries or to sell to others. This may
imply, depending on the capacities of the facilities and transportation possibilities, storing the molasses. This, when stored for long periods with high concentrations of sucrose, tends to divide into syrup rich in reducing sugars and crystallized sucrose, so
its hydrolysis is required to avoid deterioration.
Objective:
To obtain the best operating conditions for the investment of the molasses using the thermostable invertase enzyme GS115BfrA4X Pichia pastoris as a catalyst, produced at the UEB Bioprocesses Cuba 10.
Materials and Methods:
To establish a relationship between the enzyme concentration (U/g of molasses) and the molasses concentration (°Bx) on the percentage of sucrose conversion, a 22 factorial design plus a central point and a replica of the matrix of design was carried out, using the Statgraphics Centurion XVI.
Results and Discussion:
The best experimental result obtained was a molasses concentration at 55 °Bx, an enzyme concentration at 15 U/g of molasses to achieve a 76% conversion in 5 h of reaction.
Conclusions:
From the multiple regression model, from the best experimental results, it was obtained that at concentrations of 57 °Bx molasses, 11 U/g enzyme concentration and 5.3 hours of reaction, 70% conversion is reached.