Effects of maltogenic amylase from Lactobacillus plantarum on retrogradation of bread

Maltogenic amylase originated from Lactobacillus plantarum (LpMA) was studied to investigate its applicability as an antistaling enzyme. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results demonstrated that the bread treated with purified LpMA exhibited a retrogradation peak that was 65% that of the control bread. Then, for the purpose of practically using L. plantarum as an antistaling agent, the expression of LpMA in L. plantarum was enhanced by growth on a modified medium; the LpMA expression of L. plantarum grown on De Man, Rogosa and Sharpe (MRS) medium supplemented with an additional 6% glucose was 54 times higher than that of L. plantarum grown on the original MRS medium. The side chain length distribution analysis showed that the cell extract of L. plantarum (CELP) tended to prefer to hydrolyzes the long side chains of amylopectin (>30). During storage for 9 days at 4 degrees C, the bread treated with CELP exhibited a 25% slower retrogradation rate and 63% lower hardness relative to the control bread, indicating that the CELP is a potential candidate for use as an antistaling agent.