Extraction of fungal amylase inhibitors from cereal using response surface methodology

This study involved the application of response surface methodology to recover amylase-inhibiting protein fractions from oats, rice and wheat, in order to promote strategic procedures to reduce the risk of fungal contamination. The parameters studied were ethanol concentration, agitation time and type of grain using fractional factorial design 33-1. Fungal amylase (Fungamyl®) inhibition was used as the response. The results showed that in oats and wheat, optimum recovery of protein extracts capable of inhibiting Fungamyl® activity was achieved using 70% ethanol for 12 hours’ agitation, whereas for rice, the best condition was obtained with 95% ethanol and 7 hours’ agitation. It was shown that statistical treatment to combine process variables and enzyme activity measurement can be adopted for the selection and subsequent purification of enzyme inhibitors with antifungal activity