To obtain a new α-glucosidase acting on maltooligosaccharide, etc., having a degree of polymerization below that of maltotetraose but entirely inert to soluble starch, and useful as a coordinate enzyme for α-amylase activity assay and quantitative analysis of chlorine ions, as an enzyme for assaying and scavenging maltose, etc., or as an enzyme for industrial production of glucose and fructose, etc., from oligosaccharides.
This enzyme which is capable of hydrolyzing α-glucoside linkages to produce α-D-gluocose, and obtained by cultivation of Bacillus sp. KS-108a (FERM BP-5337) etc., is an α-gluocosidase having the following physicochmical properties: (1) having substrate specificity to maltoligosaccharides having a degree of polymerization below that of maltotetraose, and p- nitrophenyl-α-D-glucopyranoside etc.; (2) having the optimum pH at 6.0 to 9.0; (3) having the optimum action temperature at 52 to 55°C.
OKADA KIMIHARU
SUZUKI MASARU
