Towards complete hydrolysis of soy flour carbohydrates by enzyme mixtures for protein enrichment: A modeling approach

•Hydrolyzed insoluble carbohydrates of soybean flour to enrich protein content.•Developed kinetic model for hydrolysis of complex carbohydrates mixtures.•Evaluated effect of four enzymes: cellulase, xylanase, pectinase & α-galactosidase.•Model is capable of predicting total carbohydrate and reducing sugars.•High digestion by enzyme removed the indigestibility for animal feed use

Soy protein is a well-known nutritional supplement in proteinaceous food and animal feed. However, soybeans contain complex carbohydrate. Selective carbohydrate removal by enzymes could increase the protein content and remove the indigestibility of soy products for inclusion in animal feed. Complete hydrolysis of soy flour carbohydrates is challenging due to the presence of proteins and different types of non-structural polysaccharides. This study is designed to guide complex enzyme mixture required for hydrolysis of all types of soy flour carbohydrates. Enzyme broths from Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus aculeatus and Trichoderma reesei fermentations were evaluated in this study for soy carbohydrate hydrolysis. The resultant hydrolysate was measured for solubilized carbohydrate by both total carbohydrate and reducing sugar analyses. Conversion data attained after 48 h hydrolysis were first fitted with models to determine the maximum fractions of carbohydrate hydrolyzable by each enzyme group, i.e., cellulase, xylanase, pectinase and α-galactosidase. Kinetic models were then developed to describe the increasing conversions over time under different enzyme activities and process conditions. The models showed high fidelity in predicting soy carbohydrate hydrolysis over broad ranges of soy flour loading (5–25%) and enzyme activities: per g soy flour, cellulase, 0.04–30 FPU; xylanase, 3.5–618 U; pectinase, 0.03–120 U; and α-galactosidase, 0.01–60 U. The models are valuable in guiding the development and production of optimal enzyme mixtures toward hydrolysis of all types of carbohydrates present in soy flour and in optimizing the design and operation of hydrolysis reactor and process.