Utilization of Indonesian root and tuber starches for glucose production by cold enzymatic hydrolysis

In most tropical countries, carbohydrate-based agricultural products occur in large quantities. Wider utilization of local starch crops will offer various economic and ecological advantages. Local starch crops can be a catalyst for rural industrial development and eventually open up new markets. The potential glucose yield from the typical Indonesian starches (edible canna, arrowroot, sago, and sweet potato) using lower dosage of cold-starch hydrolyzing enzyme preparation Stargen™ 002 was compared with that of corn and potato. The glucose equivalent yield reached 88.4 g/L and 86.3 g/L after 24 h of hydrolysis when 40% (w/v) raw sago and sweet potato starches were used, respectively, as compared to corn starch (89.6 g/L). While arrowroot and edible canna gave much lower amounts (53.3 g/L and 39.7 g/L, respectively). This study demonstrates that sago and sweet potato starches may provide interesting alternatives to corn starch in a cold hydrolysis conversion process of starch into glucose.