Author : Klanarong Sriroth

Summary : A comparative study was made on the applicability of different saccharification methods on cassava, corn and sweet potato starches containing 95, 97.5, and 77.7% starch on dry weight basis, respectively. Mineral acids, commercial pure enzymes from malt and bacteria (SIGMA) and crude enzyme extract from Aspergillus oryzae NIST 3038 were used for saccharification. The index of efficiency of the method was expressed in terms of the percentage alcohol produced using Saccharomyces cerevisiae NIST 2533. From the study, the enzyme from A. oryzae NIST 3038 excelled as a saccharifying agent. The alcohol yields were 98, 96, and 88% for sweet potato, cassava, and corn starch, respectively. The bacterial and malt enzymes gave relatively low alcohol yields; 92, 85, and 72% and 92, 78 and 66% for the above mentioned starch samples, respectively.