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ARS Home » Southeast Area » New Orleans, Louisiana » Southern Regional Research Center » Commodity Utilization Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #401282
Research Project: Improved Conversion of Sugar Crops into Food, Biofuels, Biochemicals, and Bioproducts

Location: Commodity Utilization Research

Title: Impact of hypochlorite, carbamate, and hop extract biocides on enzymatic processing aid activity

Author
item Terrell, Evan
item Heck, Emily
item Qi, Yunci
item Bruni, Gillian
item Lima, Isabel
item Beacorn, Jean

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/7/2023
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Enzymatic processing aids are used in Louisiana raw sugar factories to assist with the control of unwanted polysaccharides, like starch and dextran, which occur during sugarcane processing. These polysaccharides come from the cane plant material and presence of microorganisms throughout processing facilities, and can be treated with amylase and dextranase enzymes, for example. Other processing aids include oxidizing (e.g., sodium hypochlorite) and non-oxidizing (e.g., carbamates, hop extracts) biocides. Biocidal processing aids indirectly assist with polysaccharide control by attempting to mitigate for the presence of dextran- and fructan-forming bacteria in mills. However, conversations with stakeholders have indicated that there may be deleterious interactions between biocidal and enzymatic processing aids, with bleach addition being potentially the largest cause for concern. In this work, both biocides and enzymes were added to sugarcane juice, and resulting enzymatic activity was assessed using tablet assays for residual amylase and dextranase activity. Amylase activity results suggest that there is a dosage-dependent deactivating affect of bleach on amylase activity, which does not occur with non-oxidizing biocides. Dextranase results follow a similar trend, although they are less conclusive following statistical analyses. In addition, preliminary work on biocide susceptibility testing using sodium hypochlorite, carbamate, and hop extract biocides indicates that sodium hypochlorite may ultimately be less effective for controlling bacteria in sugar mills. These results taken together can have implications for how mills operate in order to identify cost-effective applications of consumables like biocidal and enzymatic processing aids in raw sugar production.