Abstract

Jicama or Yam bean (Pachyrhizus erosus) tuber is a popular tropical legume in Viet Nam. It contains glucids, different amino acids, vitamins and minerals. Until present, jicama has not been used as a principal raw material in food industry in our country. Enzymatic treatment of raw material is a well-known technique for increasing the extraction yield in fruit and vegetable processing. The aim of this work is to investigate effects of enzymatic treatment of jicama pulp on the extraction yield, and sugar content in the jicama juice production. The highest extraction yield was 92,7% when jicama pulp was treated with the mixture of Pectinex Ultra SP (pectinase), Celluclast 1.5L (cellulase) and Termamyl 120L (alpha amylase). In this case, the total and reducing sugar contents in the jicama juice were 95.79g/L and 57.38g/L, respectively. Jicama juice could be used as a soft-drink or a medium for fermented beverage and microbial metabolite production.