J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol

DOI 10.1007/s10295-015-1619-4

FERMENTATION, CELL CULTURE AND BIOENGINEERING

An efficient method for the immobilization of inulinase using new

types of polymers containing epoxy groups
Mariusz Trytek1 · Jan Fiedurek1 · Beata Podkościelna2 · Barbara Gawdzik2 ·
Marcin Skowronek1,3 

Received: 12 August 2014 / Accepted: 8 April 2015

© The Author(s) 2015. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com

Abstract  New glycidyl methacrylate copolymers con- the overall hydrolysate, as analysed by HPLC-RID and LC-
taining different numbers of epoxy groups were synthe- ESI/MS. These results indicate that two forms of inulinase,
sized and used to develop effective procedures for inulinase an exo- and an endo-acting enzyme, were immobilized on
immobilization. The beneficial characteristics of the carri- our carrier. The enzyme showed good operational stability
ers included a high degree of crosslinking, stability at ambi- in a packed column over 28 days. There were no significant
ent temperature, an appropriate surface, and the presence decreases in the efficiency of continuous hydrolysis during
of reactive epoxy groups. Some factors affecting the effi- this time (about 17.4 % in comparison to its initial value).
ciency of immobilization of crude inulinase, including the
kind and amount of carrier, the number of epoxy groups, as Keywords  Copolymers · Epoxy groups · Eupergit ·
well as buffer pH and buffer concentration were examined. Immobilization · Inulinase
The yield of immobilization of this enzyme on the investi-
gated type of microspheres was higher than on the commer-
cial carrier, Eupergit® C. After immobilization, the opti- Introduction
mum temperature for inulinase activity shifted from 55 to
45 °C, whereas the optimum pH = 5 remained unchanged. Inulinases play an important role in the hydrolysis of inu-
The basic parameters of inulin hydrolysis were examined, lin for commercial purposes. They are employed in the
and the possibility of applying the obtained biocatalyst in production of fructose syrups and fructooligosaccharides,
continuous conditions was tested. Inulin at a concentration which are extensively used in the pharmaceutical and food
of 0.5 % (w/v) was almost completely hydrolyzed to fruc- industries [23, 26]. Another application of inulinases is the
tose (in a yield of 98 %) at a flow rate of 0.1 mL/min. A production of ethanol from inulin [24, 45, 46].
tenfold increase in the speed of flow resulted in an increase Fungal inulinases are frequently composed of a mixture
in the yield of oligosaccharides (DP2-DP6) up to ~41 % in of fructanohydrolases with a high activity and stability [1].
The best known inulinases are those produced by species of
Penicillium [25], Aspergillus [5], and Kluyveromyces [10].
* Mariusz Trytek
Inulinases with a high thermostability have been
[email protected]
obtained from strains of Aspergillus spp. and thermophilic
1
Department of Industrial Microbiology, Institute bacteria. Molecular cloning of inulinase genes from differ-
of Microbiology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology ent sources has revealed that beside conserved domains,
and Biotechnology, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University,
endo- and exo-acting inulinases show motifs which are dis-
Akademicka St. 19, 20‑033 Lublin, Poland
2
tinct for the two classes of enzymes [34].
Department of Polymer Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry,
While free enzymes can be used efficiently in batch-
Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Maria
Curie‑Skłodowska Sq. 5, 20‑031 Lublin, Poland type processes, they do not lend themselves to use in con-
3 tinuous, industrial-scale processes. Immobilization enables
Center for Interdisciplinary Research, The John Paul II
Catholic University of Lublin, Konstantynów St. 1 F, repetitive use of enzymes and hence significant cost sav-
20‑708 Lublin, Poland ings. From the technological point of view, immobilized

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 J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol

Table 1  Experimental data and Ratio of monomers (% mol.) BES.DM GMA ST DVB AIBN LEP (mmol/g)
characterization of the obtained
microspheres (g) Theo. Det.

1:1 (DVB:GMA) 0 10 0 9.15 0.191 3.67 1.71

1:1 (BES.DM:GMA) 10 2.83 0 0 0.128 1.56 1.40
1:6 (BES.DM:GMA) 10 16.97 0 0 0.270 4.44 2.79
1:1:3 (BES.DM:GMA:ST) 10 2.83 6.39 0 0.192 1.05 0.29

enzymes can easily be separated from the reaction liquid oxygenation (using H2O2) [39]. The aim of this present
and make laborious separation steps unnecessary. Addi- study was to develop an effective procedure for the immo-
tional benefits arise from stabilization against harsh reac- bilization of inulinase from A. niger using new types of
tion conditions which are deleterious to soluble enzyme polymers containing epoxy groups and to optimize some
preparations [40]. The immobilized enzymes may be parameters of this process. The possibility of applying the
employed in various reactor systems, such as in packed col- obtained biocatalysts in continuous hydrolysis conditions
umns and stirred tank reactors, depending on the nature of was also tested.
the substrate, which is being biocatalytically reacted [45].
Methods proposed for immobilization of an enzyme
are based on the use of a carrier in the form of a solid sup- Materials and methods
port made from inorganic or organic material. Such mate-
rials include gamma-alumina, titania, activated granular Chemicals
carbon, granular diatomaceous earth, glass beads, porous
glass, pumice-stone, silica gel, metal oxide and aluminum Glycidyl methacrylate (GMA), decan-1-ol and bis(2-eth-
oxide. For example, inulinase produced by the yeast strain ylhexyl)sulfosuccinate sodium salt (DAC, BP) were pur-
Kluyveromyces marxianus var. bulgaricus has been experi- chased from Fluka AG (Buchs, Switzerland). α,α′-Azoiso-
mentally immobilized on various materials, such as acti- bis-butyronitrile (AIBN), 1,4-divinylbenzene (DVB) and
vated carbon, diatomite, hen egg shell, Amberlite, porous styrene (ST) were obtained from Merck (Darmstadt, Ger-
silica and gelatin [28]. many). Reagent grade acetone, methanol, chlorobenzene,
A compound, or a mixture of compounds, is used to chloroform, acetonitrile, hexane, toluene and tetrahydro-
attach the enzyme to a carrier, with polyethylenimine and furane (THF) were from POCh (Gliwice, Poland). Bis[4(2-
glutaraldehyde in particular being cited. However, such hydroxy-3-methacryloyloxypropoxy)phenyl]sulfide (BES.
methods can be disadvantageous in that the enzyme is DM) was obtained by a procedure described in our previ-
not tightly held (by either being bonded thereto or being ous work [30].
entrapped therein) to the carrier. Thus, the enzyme can
become “detached” (unbonded) from the carrier becom- Synthesis of polymers
ing “free” in the reaction medium. In fact, the forces which
exist between the enzyme and the carrier so as to hold them Polymers containing epoxy groups were obtained in the
together are often quite weak, such that the enzyme is read- form of microspheres in a suspension–emulsion copolym-
ily desorbed from the carrier in the presence of the substrate erization procedure [29, 31]. The experimental parameters
being processed, and lost in the reaction medium [7, 9, 28, of the syntheses are presented in Table 1.
42, 44, 45]. Due to these circumstances, introduction of The dispersion medium was prepared by dissolving 1
appropriate substituents/groups that are capable of enhanc- wt% bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate sodium salt (DAC,
ing the anchoring of enzymes within carriers is desirable. BP) in deionized water. The synthesis was carried out in
Epoxy groups are known for their high affinity for proteins; a three-necked flask equipped with a stirrer, a water con-
however, too many bonds between an enzyme and a carrier denser and a thermometer. The initiator AIBN (1 wt%) was
may change the spatial structure of the enzyme and, in con- dissolved in monomers, and then the mixture was diluted
sequence, decrease its activity [12]. with a mixed solvent (toluene/decan-1-ol) taken in 1/1
In a previous study [36], a mutant of 20 OSM with an (w/w) ratio. The reaction mixture was stirred at 350 rpm for
extracellular inulinase activity about twofold higher than 18 h at 80 °C. The copolymers obtained were washed with
that of the wild strain was obtained after mutagenic acti- distilled water, filtered off, dried and extracted (in acetone
vation of A. niger. The mutant, immobilized on polyure- and methanol) in a Soxhlet apparatus. The polymerization
thane foam, was employed for enhanced production of conditions applied yielded about 80 % of beads in the size
free inulinase in a bioreactor with unconventional culture range of 10–30 μm (Fig. 1).

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J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol

Immobilization of inulinase

Concentrated post-culture liquid (1 mL containing 200

units of inulinase) and an appropriate amount of polymer
microspheres (0.2–1.0 g) were added to 4 mL of phosphate
buffer (0.75 M, pH 6.5, unless stated otherwise). The mix-
ture was incubated at 30 °C under gentle stirring for 24 h.
After incubation, the carrier-bound enzyme was recovered
by filtration, washed with 250 mL of distilled water and
kept in water at 4 °C until further use.

Inulinase assay

For the immobilized enzyme assay, a reaction mixture con-

taining an appropriate amount of immobilized inulinase
and 10 mL of 0.5 % inulin (from Dahlia tubers, Sigma
Chemical Co., St Louis, MO, USA) dissolved in 0.1 M
Fig. 1  Image of BES.DM-GMA microspheres (in acetone) used for
immobilization of inulinase
acetate buffer (pH 5.0) was incubated on a rotary shaker at
40 °C. After 20 min of incubation, the increase in reduc-
ing sugars was estimated with the 3.5-dinitrosalicylic acid
Characterization of the polymers method [22]. Absorbance was measured at 550 nm. As a
control, an adequate volume of free enzyme was used in
Chemical structures of the newly obtained copolymers were place of the immobilized enzyme.
confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR). Spectra One unit (U) of inulinase activity was defined as the
were recorded on a Perkin-Elmer 1725 X spectrophotometer amount of the enzyme which produced 1 μmole of reduc-
in the 400–4000 cm−1 wavenumber range using KBr pallets. ing sugars per min under the above conditions.
The beads were examined using an atomic force micro- The immobilization yield was calculated as the ratio of
scope AFM by Nanoscope V (Veeco–Bruker, USA) operat- the total activity of immobilized inulinase to the total activ-
ing in the contact mode. ity of the free enzyme used for immobilization.
The HCl/dioxane method was used to determine the
number of epoxy groups (LEP). The assay involved a quan- Determination of temperature activity profiles
titative reaction of HCl with epoxy groups in the envi- and thermostability
ronment of dioxane followed by titration of the remain-
ing hydrogen chloride in an ethanolic solution of NaOH. Thermal properties of inulinase were determined in the
The epoxide content was calculated from the difference standard assay mixture. To determine the optimum tem-
between the blank and the test sample after titration. perature, assays were carried out in the range of 40–60 °C.
The porous structure of the copolymers was investigated Thermostability was examined by incubating the enzyme,
by nitrogen adsorption at 77 K using an adsorption ana- added to acetate buffer (pH 5.0), for 1 h at different tem-
lyzer ASAP 2405 (Micrometrics Inc., USA). The specific peratures (30–75 °C) prior to the inulinase assay.
surface areas were calculated by the BET method assuming
that the area of a single nitrogen molecule in the adsorbed Column hydrolysis
state is 16.2 Å2. Pore volumes and pore size distributions
were determined by the BJH method. Continuous hydrolysis of inulin was carried out using a
low-pressure chromatography system consisting of a glass
Recovery of crude inulinase chromatography column (1 × 20 cm, Bio-Rad Labs., Her-
cules, CA, USA), a peristaltic pump P-50 and a Frac-100
Inulinase was synthesized in a submerged culture of A. fraction collector (both from Pharmacia, Uppsala, Swe-
niger 20 OSM as reported previously [37]. The fermented den). 3 g (wet mass) of inulinase immobilized on BES.
broth was centrifuged (2500×g, 10 min, 4 °C) in a refrig- DM-GMA (1:1) polymer (about 600 U) was packed, under
erated centrifuge (6K15—Sigma Laboratory Centrifuges, gravity, in a column equilibrated with 0.02 M acetate buffer
Osterode, Germany), and the supernatant was concen- (pH 5.0). A solution of inulin (0.5 % in 0.02 M acetate
trated fourfold in a R-205 rotary vacuum evaporator (Büchi buffer, pH 5.0), was pumped through the column at vari-
Labortechnik AG, Switzerland). ous flow-rates (0.1–4.0 mL/min) in a first experiment, and

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 J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol

CH2

O O

+ H 2C
O
C
O
CH3 O O
H 2C DVB GMA DVB-GMA

S
O O O O
H 3C
O O O O
CH 3
+ H 2C
O
HO
C
O
CH 2 CH 2 CH3 O O
OH
BES.DM OH GMA BES.DM-GMA

S
O O CH2
H 3C CH 3 O O

+
O O O O HO
CH 2 CH 2
H 2C
O
O
+ C
O
CH3 O
OH BES.DM OH
GMA ST BES.DM-GMA-ST

Fig. 2  Synthesis and the chemical structure of the monomers used for their copolymerization

at a constant flow rate of 0.5 mL/min during a 28-day-long confirmed by determining the molecular weights of the
continuous hydrolysis experiment. To prevent growth of products by flow injection HPLC-ESI/MS using an Agi-
microorganisms, sodium azide (0.01 %) was added to the lent Technologies LC-QQQ 6460 with a quadrupole ion
inulin solutions. Samples of the column effluent were taken trap mass analyser. Mass spectra were recorded in nega-
at regular intervals, and the reducing power was monitored. tive and positive-ion electrospray modes in the range of
Continuous hydrolysis experiments were conducted at 200–1600 m/z.
room temperature, because the column did not have a ther-
moregulatory system.
The efficiency of inulin hydrolysis was determined by Results and discussion
comparing the reducing properties of the products (calcu-
lated as fructose equivalent) with the theoretical hexose The aim of the present work was to develop an efficient
amount obtained after complete hydrolysis of inulin: procedure for the immobilization of crude (non-purified)

fructose equivalent in the hydrolysate (mg)

Hydrolysis efficiency (%) = ×100 %
amount of hexose after complete hydrolysis (mg)

Analytical methods inulinase for continuous hydrolysis of inulin, using new

types of polymers containing epoxy groups. For this
Carbohydrates were analyzed by HPLC (Shimadzu, purpose, four types of glycidyl methacrylate copoly-
PROMINENCE LC-20A) using a REZEX RSO Oligosac- mers in the form of microspheres were synthesized
charide column (200 mm × 10 mm, Phenomenex) cou- by suspension–emulsion polymerization. The process
pled to a refractive index (RI) detector. Elution was per- was performed at variable concentrations of the func-
formed with Milli-Q water (40 °C) at 0.25 mL/min. The tional monomer (GMA), which is why different num-
total inulo-oligosaccharides were estimated as the sum of bers of epoxy groups were obtained, ranging from 0.29
inulobiose (F2) and other oligofructosides (mainly Fn and to 2.79 mmol/g (Table 1). The crosslinking agents were
trace amounts of GFn) with degrees of polymerization bis[4(2-hydroxy-3-methacryloyloxypropoxy)phenyl]
(DP) ranging from 2 to 6. The degree of polymerization of sulfide and divinylbenzene. Crosslinked polymers had a
the products was identified by comparing the elution times high chemical and physical resistance, which is necessary
of the mono- and oligosaccharides with those of appropri- for their use in biological systems. The chemical struc-
ate standards. Fructose, glucose, sucrose, kestose (DP3, tures of the studied monomers and microspheres are shown
GF2) and nystose (DP4, GF3) were used. The results were in Fig. 2.

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J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol

Table 2  FTIR data
/cm-1/
OH O
-CH2-; -CH3
CH O C

DVB-GMA (1:1) 1604 - 908 1728 3049; 2932

BES.DM-GMA (1:1) 1592 3481 905 1728 3059; 2925

BES.DM-GMA (1:6) 1594 3475 905 1730 3051; 2928

BES.DM-GMA-ST 1591 3462 906 1729 3059; 2927

(1:1:3)

Fig. 3  Contact-mode (AFM) images of microsphere surfaces a DVB-GMA (1:1), b BES.DM:GMA (1:1), c BES.DM:GMA (1:6), d BES.DM-
GMA-ST. Magnification of all photos was ×135,000

FTIR data for the copolymers are listed in Table 2. In was observed at about 1591–1604 cm−1. The signal of a
the FTIR spectra of the copolymers studied, C-H stretching C=O group occurred at approximately 1728–1730 cm−1. The
vibrations of methylene and methyl groups of the aromatic images of the surface texture of the microspheres DVB-GMA
aromatic ring backbone were observed at 3049–3059 and (1:1), BES.DM-GMA (1:1), BES.DM-GMA (1:6) and BES.
2925–2932 cm−1, respectively [29]. The epoxide group gave DM-GMA-ST (1:1:3) show that the copolymers obtained in
a shape signal at 905–908 cm−1. Aromatic skeletal absorption the study had a varied structure (Fig. 3).

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 J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol

Table 3  Porous structure of the obtained microspheres

Copolymer Specific surface Pore volume Average pore
area (m2/g) (cm2/g) diameter (Å)

DVB-GMA (1:1) 87 0.44 200

BES.DM-GMA (1:1) 80 0.44 220
BES.DM-GMA (1:6) 5 0.01 –
BES.DM-GMA-ST (1:1:3) 23 0.12 105

25 depends on their specific surface area. Ettalibi and Baratti

[6] immobilized inulinase from Aspergillus ficuum on
20.3
porous glassware activated with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysi-
yield of immobilization (%)

20

15.4
lane in toluene reaching an efficiency of inulinase immo-
15 bilization varying from 29 % (3.000 Å) to 71 % (80 Å),
depending on pore diameter. A high immobilization yield
10 (82.6 % of inulinase specific activity) was also obtained
6.28
by Paula et al. [28], in a gelatin–water support after treat-
5 3.33 3.29 ment with glutaraldehyde as a cross-linking reagent. The
authors did not report the performance of the obtained bio-
0
DVB-GMA (1:1) BES.DM-GMA BES.DM-GMA BES.DM-GMA-ST Eupergit® C catalyst in semi-continuous conditions, though. In another
(1:1) (1:6) (1:1:3)
study, partially purified exoinulinase was immobilized onto
Amino-cellulofine using glutaraldehyde as the cross-link-
Fig. 4  Immobilization yield of crude inulinase on the newly synthe-
ing agent, with an immobilization yield of 15 % based on
sized polymer microspheres and the commercial carrier, Eupergit®.
Conditions: 1 M phosphate buffer, pH = 7 the enzyme activity [13].
In this present study, BES.DM-GMA (1:1) was used for
all further experiments; the yield of enzyme immobilization
Table  3 shows characterization of the porous structure on this polymer was as high as 76 % relative to inulinase
of the microspheres obtained by the nitrogen adsorption– immobilization on Eupergit® C under optimal conditions.
desorption method. The largest specific areas and pore vol- Factors affecting inulinase immobilization were studied
umes were observed for the copolymers DVB-GMA (1:1) using phosphate buffers of different pH and molarity. The
and BES.DM-GMA (1:1), while the copolymers BES.DM- range of pH chosen for the investigation coincided with
GMA (1:6) and BES.DM-GMA-ST (1:1:3) were rather the pH range for the enzyme in solution. Data presented in
non-porous. This indicates that porous structure is prefer- Table 4 show that the highest efficiency of enzyme immo-
entially formed in the molar ratio of monomers 1:1. The bilization was obtained at pH 6.5 (19.73 %) and the lowest
larger the share of a difunctional monomer (GMA and ST), at pH 8 (10.57 %). These data are close to those of Naka-
the lower the porosity of the obtained polymer. mura et al. [23], who obtained the highest immobilization
In a further study, carried out under optimal conditions efficiency in 0.1 M acetate buffer at pH 6.0 for inulinase
for Eupergit® C (data not shown), we examined the abil- immobilized on Amino-Cellulofine. Lower pH values of
ity of the four carriers to immobilize inulinase from crude pH 5.0, pH 5.5 and pH 3.5 have been reported by Wenling
post-culture medium (Fig. 4). A decision was made to et al. [43], Singh et al. [35] and Paula et al. [28], respec-
use crude inulinase (as a concentrated medium obtained tively. These differences can be caused by the specificity
from a culture of A. niger) instead of the purified enzyme, of our enzyme and the carrier used for immobilization.
because the latter, being an endoinulinase, did not hydro- We also tested Sorensen buffer at pH 5.0, 5.5 and 6.0, but
lyze sucrose. When the culture supernatant was used, fruc- the effectiveness of immobilization using this buffer was
tose was produced from inulin, suggesting that apart from lower than for phosphate buffer: 14.06, 14.73 and 14.19 %,
endoinulinase, an exo-acting enzyme was also present in respectively (data not shown). Interestingly, when the
the culture filtrate [38]. The highest efficiency of inulinase molarity of the phosphate buffer was decreased to 0.75M,
immobilization (15.4 %) was achieved for BES.DM-GMA the yield of enzyme immobilization (19.44 %) on our pol-
(1:1) and the lowest for the carriers BES.DM-GMA (1:6) ymer surpassed that obtained on Eupergit® C (18.94 %)
(3.29 %) and BES.DM-GMA-ST (1:1:3) (3.33 %). This under optimal conditions of immobilization.
result correlates with differences in the porosity of the In a subsequent experiment, the influence of the amount
polymers and may suggest that the yield of immobilization of the carrier on the efficiency of enzyme immobilization

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J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol

Table 4  Some factors affecting the efficiency of inulinase immobili- 120

zation on a BES.DM-GMA (1:1) polymer microsphere
100
Factor varied Efficiency of inulinase

relative activity (%)

immobilization (%)
80
Phosphate buffer pH (1 M)
60
 6.0 16.26
 6.5 19.73
40
 7.0 17.53
 7.5 12.82 20
 8.0 10.57
Concentration of phosphate buffer pH 6.5 (M) 0
20 30 40 50 60 70 80
 1.0 15.60
temperature (°C)
 0.75 19.44 immobilized enzyme free enzyme
 0.5 18.30
 0.25 17.25 Fig. 6  Thermostability of immobilized inulinase on BES.DM-GMA
Eupergit® C (1 M, pH = 7) 18.94 (1:1) polymer microspheres
Amount of carriers
 0.1 10.41
there are no reports of a similar downward shift in opti-
 0.2 14.91
mum temperature for immobilized inulinase relative to
 0.3 15.07
the free enzyme. Generally, the optimum temperatures for
 0.5 14.83 immobilized inulinases are higher than those obtained for
 1.0 15.64 their free counterparts [6, 28, 35, 43]. However, there are
some reports concerning other hydrolases that resemble
our results, e.g., cellulases immobilized on Aminosilica-1
15 [14], beta-fructofuranosidase immobilized on FE-4611 car-
13
rier resin [21] and lipase immobilized on porous chitosan
Inulinase activity (U/mL)

polyphosphate beads [18].

11 In the present study, immobilized inulinase was thermo-
9 stable at 40 °C for 60 min; however, when the temperature
was increased to 55 °C, its stability significantly decreased
7
to 44.73 %. At 65 and 70 °C, the enzyme reached only
5 25.57 and 5.81 % of its initial activity, respectively (Fig. 6).
At 50 °C, inulinase retained 82 % of its initial activity
3
(for 60 min). These values are quite different from those
1 reported for immobilized inulinases coming from some
35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 other microbes: F. oxysporum (50 % activity at 50 °C after
temperature (ºC) 45 min), A. niger (stable for 30 min at 60 °C) and A. can-
immobilized enzyme free enzyme
didus (stable for 60 min at 55 °C) [9, 15, 23]. The thermal
stability of immobilized inulinase from A. fumigatus at
Fig. 5  Activity of free (a) and immobilized (b) inulinase from A. 60 °C was considerably higher (~70 % up to 48 h). Mazutti
niger 20 OSM at different temperatures
et al. [20] reported half-lives of 2224.0 and 322.0 min at 50
and 55 °C, respectively, and Treichel et al. [41] found half-
was determined. In the range of 0.2–1.0 g of the carrier, lives of 4158.0 and 594.0 min at 50 and 52.5 °C, respec-
immobilization efficiencies were similar; a slightly higher tively, for free inulinase from K. marxianus NRRL Y-7571.
efficiency was obtained for 1 g of the carrier. For economic Our study of long-term storage (for 182 days) of immo-
reasons, 0.2 g of the carrier was used in further experiments bilized inulinase at 4 and −20 °C showed that the enzyme
(Table 4). lost 60.1 and 44.9 % of its activity, respectively (Fig. 7).
The optimal temperatures for free and immobilized Inulinase immobilized on gelatin by Paula et al. [27],
inulinase were 55 and 45 °C, respectively. A further lost only 9.8 % of its activity when kept in a refrigerator
increase in the temperature, significantly reduced the activ- (+4 °C) for 34 days, whereas its free counterpart, stored
ity of the enzyme (Fig. 5). At 50 °C, the activity of immo- in the same conditions, lost as much as 22.5 % of its activ-
bilized inulinase decreased by 20 %. As far as we know, ity. Inulinase immobilized on BES.DM-GMA (1:1) kept at

13
 J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol

120 results obtained by other authors have shown that the effect
of the flow rate of the substrate on hydrolysis yield depends
100
on substrate concentration. In a packed-bed reactor con-
relative activity (%)

80 taining 412 U inulinase, dahlia inulin at a concentration

of 7.5 %(w/v) was completely hydrolyzed at a flow rate
60 of 2.0 mL/min at 60 °C, whereas for a medium with 2.5 %
inulin at 60 °C, the flow rate was slower (1.0 mL/min). The
40
reactor was successfully operated over 30 days without loss
20
of inulinase activity [13]. A detailed analysis of the hydrol-
ysis products by HPLC-RID and LC-ESI/MS techniques
0 (Figs. 9, 10) revealed that in our system, at a flow rate of
0 6 12 18 24 30
0.1 mL/min, inulin [at a concentration of 0.5 % (w/v)]
storage time (weeks) was almost completely hydrolyzed to fructose with only
+4ºC -20ºC
residual amounts of oligosaccharides detected. The total
concentration of oligosaccharides increased at higher flow
Fig. 7  Influence of storage temperature on the activity of immobi- rates, with the oligosaccharide (DP from 2 to 6) yield in the
lized inulinase
overall hydrolizate solution rising up to ~41 % at 1 ml/min,
as shown in HPLC-RID chromatograms (Fig. 9). At this
120 flow rate, the relative amounts of the respective oligomers
were estimated as follows: DP2 (3.8 %), DP3 (7.8 %), DP4
100 (10.6 %), DP5 (10.2 %), DP6 (8.4 %). The occurrence of
hydrolysis efficiency (%)

both fructose and oligosaccharides in the hydrolysate sug-

80
gests that two forms of inulinase, an exo- and an endo-act-
60
ing enzyme, were immobilized on our carrier.
The operational stability of a packed column in continu-
40 ous hydrolysis of inulin by inulinase from A. niger 20 OSM
immobilized on BES.DM1-GMA1 is shown in Fig. 11.
20 During the 28 days of operation, only a slight decrease
in the efficiency of inulin hydrolysis was observed. After
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5
this time, the efficiency of inulin hydrolysis dropped by
flow rate (ml/min) only about 20 % in comparison to the initial value. This
is a promising result from the practical point of view. Our
results are similar to those of Kim et al. [13], Nakamura
Fig. 8  Effect of flow rate on efficiency of inulin (0.5 %) hydrolysis
by A. niger 20 OSM inulinase immobilized on BES.DM-GMA (1:1) et al. [23] and Yun et al. [45]. In their experiments, col-
polymer umns containing inulinases from A. niger or S. cerevisiae
immobilized on Amino-cellulofine worked continuously
for 45 and 30 days, respectively, without a significant loss
4 °C lost about 24 % of its activity after 42 days; in turn, of inulinase activity. Less favorable results were obtained
the enzyme kept at −20 °C retained almost 89 % of its for inulinase from Kluyveromyces sp. Y-85 immobilized
activity. These differences may result from the different on macroporous ionic polystyrene beads [43], where only
ways in which the enzyme was protected against dryness 49 % of the initial activity was retained after 35 days of
and activity loss. continuous hydrolysis. A sol–gel immobilized inulinase
As the last stage of the present experiments, we tested used by Santa et al. [33], for the hydrolysis of inulin to
the ability of the immobilized enzyme to work in continu- fructose displayed a promising operational stability, since
ous conditions in a chromatographic column. The effect of it was used in more than 20 consecutive 24-h batch runs
flow rate on the efficiency of inulin hydrolysis by immobi- without a noticeable decline in product yield. The kinetic
lized inulinase from A. niger 20 OSM was examined. Fig- parameters estimated from the typical Michaelis–Menten
ure 8 shows hydrolysis efficiency as a function of flow rate kinetics suggest that immobilization in sol–gel did not tam-
through a reactor column packed with immobilized inuli- per with the native enzyme conformation, whereas entrap-
nase. An increase in the speed of flow from 0.5 to 4 mL/ ment brought along mass transfer limitations.
min resulted in an about 3.5-fold decrease in the efficiency Enzyme immobilization alters some properties of
of inulin hydrolysis, which could have been caused by enzyme molecules, such as their catalytic or thermal stabil-
too short a contact of the enzyme with the substrate. The ity, in comparison to their soluble counterparts [6, 28, 35,

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J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol

Fig. 9  HPLC-RID chromatograms of the products of inulin hydrolysis in continuous conditions using A. niger 20 OSM inulinase immobilized
on BES.DM-GMA (1:1) polymer in a packed column at a flow rate of 4 mL/min (a), 1 mL/min (b) and 0.1 mL/min (c)

Fig. 10  LC-ESI/MS spectra of the products of continuous hydrolysis of inulin (at a flow rate of 1 mL/min) by A. niger 20 OSM inulinase immo-
bilized on BES.DM-GMA (1:1) polymer on a packed column

43]. This change of properties may be due to either changes protein as a consequence of the binding of the enzyme to
in the intrinsic activity of the immobilized enzyme or due the matrix.
to the fact that the interaction between the immobilized Our study shows that the number of epoxy groups may
enzyme and the substrates takes place in a microenviron- be a crucial factor both for the efficiency of covalent bind-
ment which is different from the bulk solution. Changes in ing of an enzyme and its activity. Eupergit® C is known
catalytic properties upon immobilization may also be due to have a number of epoxy groups (0.6 mmol per dry g
to the changes in the three-dimensional conformation of the of polymer), due to which it has the ability to immobilize

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 J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol

90 commercially available carriers of this type (e.g., Euper-

80 git® C). The polymers synthesized in our study are stable at
room temperature, as opposed to Eupergit, which requires
hydrolysis efficiency (%)

70
a low storage temperature (−20 °C). The significance of
60
the data presented here is also that the immobilization of
50
non-purified inulinase from A. niger using the new types
40 of polymers is a simple method that gives good operational
30 stability of the enzyme on a packed column in continuous
20 hydrolysis of inulin (leading to complete hydrolysis to fruc-
tose or to oligosaccharides of a high commercial value).
10
The present results promise future improvement of inuli-
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28
nase immobilization, which can be achieved by optimiz-
hydrolysis time (days) ing polymer porosity, the specific area of polymer micro-
spheres and the number of epoxy groups on the polymer
surface as well as by performing immobilization processes
Fig. 11  Operational stability of a packed column in continuous
hydrolysis of inulin using A. niger 20 OSM inulinase immobilized on by an indirect method using a spacer to enhance enzyme
BES.DM-GMA (1:1) polymer mobility. Development of multifunctional terpolymers by
using monomers with different functional groups (to intro-
enzymes directly by covalent attachment [11, 12]. From duce hydroxyl, amide and epoxide functions directly into
our results it seems that an enzyme may attach directly to the surface) should also be attempted. Experiments with
a polymer via too many bonds with epoxide groups. This various ratios of epoxy to amide groups should be accom-
is borne out by the finding that the activity of inulinase on panied by an investigation of the conditions of inulinase
BES.DM-GMA (1:6) (with the highest distribution of epoxy immobilization, which may also improve the performance
groups, 2.79 mmol/g) was significantly decreased in com- of this biocatalyst.
parison with BES.DM-GMA (1:1) (1.4 mmol/g) (Table 1).
Then, the protein is likely to exist in a close proximity to Acknowledgments  We thank Dr. Anna Gromada (Maria Curie-
Skłodowska University, Lublin, Poland) for her help in the experi-
the polymer surface, which may change the spatial structure
mental work. The authors gratefully acknowledge the use of the mass
and, thus, the activity of the enzyme. Generally, the opera- spectrometry services and facilities of the Center for Interdisciplinary
tional stability of an enzyme is improved on immobiliza- Research of The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland
tion, which is why the concept of stabilization has been an funded by POPW.01.03.00-06-003/09-00, and thank Dr. Emilia For-
nal and Ewa Parfieniuk for HPLC/MS analyses of oligosaccharides.
important driving force for immobilizing enzymes [28, 42].
The research reported here was supported by the programme BS/BIB/
Studies carried out by numerous authors using different UMCS.
methods have established a relation between stabilization
and the number of covalent bonds to the matrix [16]. One Open Access  This article is distributed under the terms of the
of the main problems linked with the use of immobilized Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://crea-
tivecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use,
enzymes is the loss of their catalytic activity, especially distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give
when the enzymes are acting on macromolecular sub- appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a
strates [8, 17]. Because of limited access of the substrate link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were
to the active site of the enzyme, the enzyme activity may made.
be reduced to accessible surface groups of the substrate
only. This steric restriction may, in turn, change the char-
acteristic pattern of products derived from the macromo- References
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