Comparative assessment of amylolytic and cellulolytic enzyme activity of malts prepared from tropical cereals

The activity levels of amylolytic enzymes and β-glucanase in malts prepared from four tropical cereal grains were assessed to establish the relative usefulness of these malts for production of glucose syrups. Rice malt showed the highest activity for the amylolytic enzymes, whilst millet and sorghum malts were richest in β-glucanase activity. Optimum amylolytic enzyme development in rice malts occurred between 9-13 days; and 11 days for optimum β-glucanase development in millet malt. β-Amylase was the predominant enzyme in all the cereal malts except maize, for which the predominant enzyme was α-amylase. Options for optimising the production of enzymes from the three cereals, and their potential for use in the production of glucose syrups are discussed.