Pectinase activity assay
This was performed according to the method of Silva et al.
[30]. Pectinase activity was evaluated by mixing 0.2 mL of
the enzyme preparation and 0.8 mL of citrus pectin solution (0.5%, w/v citrus pectin in 0.05 M acetate buffer, pH 5.0).
Reaction mixtures were incubated at 50 C for 10 min
and the released reducing sugars were determined by
Somogyi [32]. One unit of pectinase activity was defined as
the amount of enzyme releasing 1 lmol of reducing sugars
(as D-anhydrogalacturonic acid) per min reaction.