Pullulanase from Klebsiella aerogenes
Debranching enzyme · Limit dextrinase · Pullulanase from Klebsiella aerogenes · R-enzymeA branch-cutting starch enzyme from Klebsiella aerogenes. JECFA records its use in sugar and honey, in cereals and starch, and in beverages.
Where it is and isn’t permitted
| Jurisdiction | Status | Scope and limits | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia and New Zealand | No listed food uses foundThis site has not matched this substance to any food use on this jurisdiction’s list of authorised food additives. A food additive may be used only in foods that list names. Flavourings, enzymes, processing aids and added nutrients are regulated separately and do not appear on it. | ||
| Canada | No listing matchedHealth Canada’s lists name additives without E or INS numbers, so this site matches them by exact name. A substance listed there under a name this site does not recognise has no row here. | ||
| European Union | No listed food uses foundThis site has not matched this substance to any food use on this jurisdiction’s list of authorised food additives. A food additive may be used only in foods that list names. Flavourings, enzymes, processing aids and added nutrients are regulated separately and do not appear on it. | ||
| Great Britain | No listed food uses foundThis site has not matched this substance to any food use on this jurisdiction’s list of authorised food additives. A food additive may be used only in foods that list names. Flavourings, enzymes, processing aids and added nutrients are regulated separately and do not appear on it. | ||
| Japan | No listing matchedThis site imports only Japan’s list of designated additives (Appended Table 1 to the Regulations for Enforcement of the Food Sanitation Act), matched by English name. Existing additives, natural flavouring agents and ordinary foods used as additives are permitted outside that list and are not imported, so an empty row does not show that Japan does not permit the substance. | ||
| South Korea | No listing matchedThis site imports Part III of South Korea’s Standards and Specifications for Food Additives, matched by CAS number, then INS number, then exact name. Mixed preparations and sanitisers are not imported, and an entry whose identifiers disagreed with a page’s is held for review, so an empty row does not show that South Korea does not permit the substance. | ||
| United States | Not listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited. | ||
| Codex Alimentarius | Not listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited. |
What it is made from
Produced by fermenting Klebsiella aerogenes and recovering the enzyme as a tan powder or an off-white liquid.
How JECFA defines it
The international specification for identity and purity, prepared by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives and published by FAO. It is a different document from any above, written by a different body and revised on its own cycle; it is advisory, and a country adopts it or does not.
Pullulanase from Klebsiella aerogenes
Synonyms: R-enzyme, limit dextrinase, debranching enzyme Debranching enzyme; Limit dextrinase; R-enzyme
Assay, identification and purity criteria
Description and assay
- Specification history
- Prepared at the 25th JECFA (1981), published in FNP 19 (1981) and in FNP 52 (1992). No ADI was allocated at the 25th JECFA (1981)
- SOURCES
- Produced by the controlled fermentation of Klebsiella aerogenes
- Active principles
- Pullulanase (alpha-dextrin endo-1,6-alpha-glucosidase, amylopectin 6-glucanohydrolase)
- Systematic names and numbers
- alpha-Dextrin 6-glucanohydrolase (EC 3.2.1.41)
- Reactions catalyzed
- The enzyme preparations hydrolyze 1,6-alpha-glucosidic linkages in pullulan, and the alpha- and ß-amylase limit dextrins of amylopectin and glycogen, yielding mainly maltotriose and maltose.
- Secondary enzyme activities
- alpha-amylase (EC 3.2.1.1) Microbial serine proteinase (EC 3.4.21.14) Microbial aspartic proteinase (EC 3.4.23.6)
- DESCRIPTION
- Tan, fine powders or off-white liquids; soluble in water; practically insoluble in ethanol, chloroform and ether
- FUNCTIONAL USES
- Enzyme preparation Used in the preparation of and/or use in sugar and honey, cereal and starch and beverages
- GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS
- Must conform to the General Specifications for Enzyme Preparations used in Food Processing (see Volume Introduction)
Identification
- Pullulanase activity (Vol. 4)
- The sample shows pullulanase activity
Every name it appears under
4 recorded names. A label may use any of them.
Other names
- Debranching enzyme
- Limit dextrinase
- Pullulanase from Klebsiella aerogenes
- R-enzyme
Hazard reference values
No reference value for this substance in the sources we hold.
Evidence and how bodies read it
Studies, and the differing conclusions regulators drew from them, are curated rather than machine-read, and none has been written for this substance yet.
Sources for this page
- jecfaspecs retrieved 2026-09-23
Full licence terms and publisher details on Sources. How this page is built and updated: Method.
Machine-readable: a JSON record of this additive is given on request —how to ask for access.
Follow changes to Pullulanase from Klebsiella aerogenes:Atom feed — regulatory events, and any change the weekly refresh detects in its provisions.