%0 Journal Article
%T The Identification and Characterization of Chitotriosidase Activity in Pancreatin from Porcine Pancreas
%A Chia-Rui Shen
%A Chao-Lin Liu
%A Hsiao-Ping Lee
%A Jeen-Kuan Chen
%J Molecules
%D 2013
%I MDPI AG
%R 10.3390/molecules18032978
%X The versatile oligosaccharide biopolymers, chitin and chitosan, are typically produced using enzymatic processes. However, these processes are usually costly because chitinases and chitosanases are available in limited quantities. Fortunately, a number of commercial enzymes can hydrolyze chitin and chitosan to produce long chain chitin or chitosan oligosaccharides. Here, a platform to screen for enzymes with chitinase and chitosanase activities using a single gel with glycol chitin or glycol chitosan as a substrate was applied. SDS-resistant chitinase and chitosanase activities were observed for pancreatin. Its chitotriosidase had an optimal hydrolysis pH of 4 in the substrate specificity assay. This activity was thermally unstable, but independent of 2-mercaptoethanol. This is the first time a chitotriosidase has been identified in the hog. This finding suggests that oligochitosaccharides can be mass-produced inexpensively using pancreatin.
%K chitin
%K chitosan
%K oligosaccharides
%K pancreatin
%K chitotriosidase
%U http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/18/3/2978