Figure 4 shows the effect of temperature on the activity of α-amylase whereby,
maximum enzyme activity was observed at 55°C. Chakraborty et al., (2000) found that
maximum activity of α-amylase was observed at 55°C. Stability of α-amylase in our
study was observed over a temperature range of 35-85°C (more than 60%) while 100%
stability was observed at 65 °C (Fig. 5). Thermal stability of α-amylase was also reported
by Al- Qodah et al., (2007). Accordingly, α-amylase remained stable at 64°C for 3.5
hours. However, Konsoula & Liakopoulo-Kyriakides (2007) found that α-amylase
enzyme extract retained 96% activity when incubated at 60°C for 2 hours.