Abstract
Copra meal is a good source of galactomannan and its mannooligosaccharides have prebiotic properties. However, limited data are available concerning the ideal requirements for mannan hydrolysis. Thus, optimum hydrolysis conditions for the production of oligosaccharides from copra meal hydrolysate were investigated using response surface methodology. Model validation provided good agreement between experimental results and predicted responses. Maximum oligosaccharide of 14.41 ± 0.09 mg/ml (20 ml) was obtained at an enzyme concentration of 16.52 U/ml, substrate concentration 15% and reaction time 12 h. On a larger scale, this increased to 15.76 ± 0.04 mg/ml (200 ml) and 16.89 mg/ml (2000 ml). Defatted copra meal hydrolysate promoted the growth of beneficial bacteria as lactobacilli and bifidobacteria, while inhibiting pathogens Salmonella serovar Enteritidis S003, Escherichia coli E010, Staphylococcus aureus TISTR 029 and Shigella dysenteriae DMST 1511. Higher yield of oligosaccharides under optimum conditions indicated the potential of this method for production of mannooligosaccharides from copra meal hydrolysate on an industrial scale.