Abstract:

The goal of this study was to develop an optimum process for hydrolyzing loquat slurry. A series of single factor experiments were carried out to address the effects of enzyme concentration, hydrolysis temperature and length of hydrolysis on juice yield and transmittance. Central composite design coupled with response surface methodology was employed to optimize these 3 hydrolysis conditions. It was indicated that all of the conditions significantly influenced juice yield and transmittance and that their optimum values were determined as follows: enzyme concentration 166.05 mg/kg, hydrolysis temperature 40.60 ℃ and hydrolysis duration 5.64 h. Under these optimum conditions, the experimental values of juice yield and transmittance were 91.17% and 76.24%, respectively, presenting a relative error of less than 1% when compared with the predicted counterparts.

Key words: loquat slurry, enzyme technique, response surface methodology (RSM), predicted pattern