title: Silver nanoparticles: a potential nanocatalyst for the rapid degradation of starch hydrolysis by α-amylase.
abstract: Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are proven to be an effective catalytic material for various applications due to their excellent optical and electronic properties. In this paper, we describe a novel approach for the degradation of starch using the catalytic behaviour of AgNPs in an enzyme catalysed reaction of starch hydrolysis by α-amylase. AgNPs were synthesized by soluble starch reducing silver nitrate to silver atoms. An increase of 4.7-fold in reducing sugar formation and 1.5 times faster enzyme activity confirmed the catalytic activity of AgNPs as a nanocatalyst. Surprisingly, starch degradation tests revealed that 9.9 mg of starch was hydrolysed within 5 min, which corroborates with the reducing sugar assay. In short, the present study paves way for the faster degradation of starch by immobilizing the enzyme onto the surface of the AgNP, which could be a promising application in the food industry.
authors.affiliation: Center for Nanobiotechnology, VIT University, Vellore 14, India.
authors.forename: Vinita
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ernest
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Shiny
authors.forename: Amitava
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mukherjee
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chandrasekaran
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002384:Catalysis; D019649:Food Industry; D006868:Hydrolysis; D007700:Kinetics; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011487:Protein Conformation; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry*; D013213:Starch / Q000378:metabolism*; D013552:Swine; D000516:alpha-Amylases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D012834:Silver; D013213:Starch; D000516:alpha-Amylases