Processing of Gum Arabic Enzymatically

Acacia senegal var. senegal and Acaia seyal var. seyal solutions were treated with papain (proteolytic type enzyme). The reactions were monitored using gel permeation chromatography coupled on line to multi-angle laser light scattering, refractive index and UV detectors. The results for A. senegal samples showed almost complete disappearance of the AGP faction and as a result a decrease in the weight average molecular weight (Mw) of up to 40% of the original value. For A. seyal the incubation with papain enzyme for 72 hours reduced the molecular weight by 43%. Incubation of the gums alone without papain at 63oC resulted in a decrease in the molecular weight for both A. senegal and A. seyal. The reduction was more significant in A. seyal compared to A senegal.