A strain of
Aspergillus niger isolated from sugarcane fields, produced an extracellular transfructosylase in the culture medium. Sucrose and raffinose induced the production to the enzyme, which was purified by 138-fold. The optimum pH for activity and stability were 5.5 and 6.5, respectively. Its optimum temperature was 55°C. The enzyme hydrolysed sucrose rapidly and simultaneously formed fructooligosaccharides by transfructosylation.
The authors are with the University of Campinas, College of Food Engineering, Laboratory of Food Biochemistry (UNICAMP), Caixa postal 6121, Campinas, SP, Brazil.