NON-STARCHY POLYSACCHARIDES OF CEREAL GRAINS: IV. CELLULASE ACTIVITY AND AUTOLYSIS RELATIONSHIPS OF SOME MALTING BARLEYS

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Abstract
A method is described for determining the cellulase activity of barley, depending on measurement of the fall in viscosity of a solution of barley β-glucosan when treated with an extract of barley under standard conditions. The activity as determined is proportional to the concentration of enzyme taken, and is independent of the initial viscosity of the substrate. Cellulase activity shows significant correlation with the yield of barley gum obtainable after a 30 min. period of autolysis, but the relationship is only in part direct, since the yield obtained depends also on ready-soluble gum, the dissolution of this running broadly parallel with dissolution of products of enzymolysis; both types of dissolution depend on the ease of penetration by the solvent. The penetration factor varies from one sample of barley to another, and this variation may prove of significance in the early stages of malting. Widely different autolysis patterns are also shown by different barleys, but these patterns are in all cases largely governed by the behaviour of the β-glucosan.

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