Continuous potato starch hydrolysis process in a membrane reactor with tubular and hollow-fiber membranes

Enzyme hydrolysis of maltodextrine by a fungal α-amylase for the production of maltose syrup was done by simultaneous use of a stirred tank reactor and a ceramic membrane molecular cut-off size 5 kDa and 8 kDa and polymeric ultrafiltration membrane with molecular weight cut-off size 6 kDa. The effect of size of membrane porosity, substrate: enzyme ratio and residence time on hydrolysis process have been examined. Ceramic membrane with tubular configuration gave 62.6-63.2% and polymeric membrane with hollow-fiber configuration gave not more than 40.0% maltose. Permeate flux for tubular membrane was 3-4 times higher than for hollow-fiber membrane.