Use of α-amylase/silica particle suspensions to optimize cleaning in a simulated cleaning-in-place system

Abstract The activity and stability of α-amylase on silica particle suspensions were studied by analyzing the influence of time, temperature, enzyme concentration and silica particle concentration. The recovery of enzymatic activity was also explored using different centrifugation and reconstitution cycles and experimental times, comparing the results with those obtained without particles. Higher recovery of enzymatic activity was obtained by centrifugation at 60 °C and with a ratio particle concentration/enzyme concentration higher than 20. The cleaning of heat-treated starch retained in stainless steel was analyzed in a Cleaning-In-Place device (CIP) using enzymatic solutions with and without silica particles. The utilization of enzymatic solutions without microparticles enabled 36% of activity to be recovered by centrifugation. When silica particles were included in the washing solutions, the detergency recovered was up to 50%, this not being significantly affected by the storage time, nor the number of centrifugation and washing cycles.