title: Chitooligosaccharides enzymatic production by Metarhizium anisopliae.
abstract: The products of chitosan hydrolysis are chitooligosaccharides and are used mainly for medical applications due to their specific biological activities. The objective of this study was to detect and identify the products of enzymatic hydrolysis of chitosan (dimers to hexamers) using a crude extract of chitosanolytic enzymes produced by the fungus Metarhizium anisopliae. These fungus was able to produce, during 48 h cultivation in a medium containing chitosan, chitooligosaccharides ranging from dimers, trimers, tetramers and pentamers at concentrations 0.2, 0.19, 0.06, 0.04 mg/mL, respectively, and the enzymatic activity was 2.5 U/L. Using the crude enzyme extract for chitosan hydrolysis, we detected the presence of dimers to hexamers at hydrolysis times of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 min of enzymatic reaction, but the yields were higher at 10 min (54%). The hexamers was obtained only with 30 min of reaction with concentration of 0.004 mg/mL.
authors.affiliation: Departamento De Engenharia Química, Centro De Tecnologia, Institute de Technologia, Lagoa Nova, 59072-970 Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. cristianeassis@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Cristiane Fernandes
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: de Assis
authors.forename: Nathália Kelly
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Araújo
authors.forename: Maria Giovana Binder
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Pagnoncelli
authors.forename: Márcia Regina
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: da Silva Pedrini
authors.forename: Gorete Ribeiro
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: de Macedo
authors.forename: Everaldo Silvino
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: dos Santos
mesh_terms: D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D006868:Hydrolysis; D052981:Metarhizium / Q000201:enzymology*; D009844:Oligosaccharides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D009844:Oligosaccharides; D048271:Chitosan