| Abstract: | The relation between consistency of soya beans, polysaccharidase activities and the non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) content of soya beans was investigated during tempe fermentation. The fermentations were carried out in a rotating drum reactor (RDR) as well as in the traditional stationary tempe process. The firmness of the soya beans decreased rapidly during the first day of incubation. At increased incubation temperatures the hardness of the beans decreased more rapidly. In the RDR glycosidase activities became significantly higher beyond 48 h of incubation compared with the traditional process. This might have resulted from (a) the better control of temperature and gas composition in the RDR, and/or (b) the agitation in the RDR. The content of arabinose, galactose and uronic acids in the water-unextractable solids of NSP decreased more rapidly than that of glucose, mannose, xylose and fucose. These results indicate that during enzymatic maceration of soya beans in tempe fermentation, the arabinogalactan and pectin fractions are preferentially solubilised. © 1997 SCI. |
