Research on Alkaline Pectinase for Hemp Degumming

Abstract

Alkaline pectinase has a broad application prospect in textile field. In hemp degumming, enzymatic degumming is preferred because of the better fiber quality and less environmental pollution. In this thesis, we used the recombinant strain Bacillus subtilis TCCC11485 constructed in our laboratory to express high-yield alkaline pectinase. The optimal conditions of the alkaline pectinase for hemp degumming were determined by single factor experiments as: bath ratio 1:36, pH 8, 45 ° C, enzyme activity 600 U/mL, degumming for 6 h. Under the above conditions, the residual gum content of fiber is 32.76%. Further, the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was also used to compare quality of the hemp fibers produced by enzymatic-, chemical-degumming. The results showes that the fibers are in higher quality by alkaline pectinase degumming, suggesting the prospect of commercial applications in domestic textile industry.