Hydrolysis of corn starch by β-amylase
Fig. 3(b) shows the result of corn starch hydrolyzed by β-amylase. Comparing with the untreated starch (Fig. 1a), the shape and size of the starch almost had no change after hydrolysing by β-amylase. β-amylases (α-1, 4-glucan maltohydrolase; EC 3.2.1.2) are exo-hydrolases which release β-maltose from the non-reducing ends of α-1, 4-linked poly- and oligoglucans until the first −1, 6-branching point along the substrate molecule is encountered (Moriyama & Ikeda, 1996). Therefore, ungelatinized granular starch is not susceptible to β-amylase.