Selective and stable production of physiologically active chitosan oligosaccharides using an enzymatic membrane bioreactor

We investigated the production of chitosan oligosaccharides by continuous hydrolysis of chitosan in an enzyme membrane bioreactor, with the goal of improving the yield of physiologically active oligosaccharides (pentamers and hexamers) and achieving operational stability. The bioreactor was a continuous-flow stirred-tank reactor equipped with an ultrafiltration membrane with a molecular weight cut-off of 2000 Da, and the hydrolysis was accomplished with chitosanase from Bacillus pumilus. After optimization of the reaction parameters, such as the amount of enzyme, the yield of the target oligosaccharides produced in the membrane bioreactor with free chitosanase reached 52% on the basis of the fed concentration of chitosan. An immobilized chitosanase prepared by the multipoint attachment method was used to improve the operational stability of the membrane bioreactor. Under the optimized conditions, pentameric and hexameric chitosan oligosaccharides were steadily produced at 2.3 g/L (46% yield) for a month. The half-life of the productivity of the reactor was estimated to be 50 d under the conditions examined.