The extraction yield of soluble solids was significantly affected
(P < 0.05) by the enzymatic treatment of the pulp of date with 5 U
of cellulase/100 g. Indeed, the yield of soluble solids increased by 7%
after 20 min of treatment. However, not significantly improvement
(P > 0.05) on the soluble solids yieldwas shown while passing from
5 to 10 U of cellulase/100 g (Table 3).
In the non-enzyme-treated control, turbidity decreased with
the time. Indeed, the turbidity falls about 53.69% after 180 min. The
reduction of turbidity resulted from the endogenous enzymes
activities.
The turbidity decreased while cellulase concentration increased
within 20 and 80 min (data not shown). However, the turbidity
increased with increase in cellulase concentration after 80 min. The
reason for the rise of turbidity can be due to cellulase activities. In
fact, this could promote extraction of cellulose and hemicellulose
responsible for increasing turbidity.