Enzymes:Industrial Uses
by Alex Higgs 12 SC
Welcome to Enzymes essay,here I will go through various uses of
enzymes and descriptions.
Enzymes are one of the important parts of biological
processes.Most reactions can use enzymes as a biological catalyst
and therefore speeding the reaction and making the whole process a
breeze.There are many uses of Enzymes ,but in this essay I will pay
most attention to industrial uses.Before I go any further,I d like to
briefly describe key points of enzymes...
Enzymes are...
* Very large, complex protein molecules consisting of
intertwined chains of amino acids
* Formed within the cells of all living creatures, plants, fungi,
bacteria, and microscopic single cell organisms
* Highly biodegradable and pose no threat to the environment
* Catalysts at work all around us in nature, our bodies, and in
industry
* Inanimate chemical compounds, though they are found in all
living cells
* Categorized according to the compounds they act upon. For
example, lipases split fats into glycerol and fatty acids;
catalases break down hydrogen peroxide; amylases break
down starch into simple sugars; proteases break down
proteins; cellulases break down cellulose; pectinases break
down pectin
What Do They Do?
* Control many vital functions including the metabolic processes
which convert nutrients into energy and fresh cell material and
are highly efficient at increasing the reaction rate of
biochemical processes.
* They have highly specific targets, breaking down or
synthesizing only certain compounds, which work at specific
conditions of temperature, pH and pressure.
How are They Produced Commercially?
* Fermentation broth is superheated under specific conditions to
form a completely sterile nutrient medium
* The nutrient is converted into a desired enzyme by carefully
selected microorganism action in the presence of oxygen. The
choice of broth, microorganism, and operating conditions
determine the type and yield of enzyme.
* Once fermentation is completed, various centrifugal, filtration,
and precipitation ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
synthesizing only certain compounds, which work at specific
conditions of temperature, pH and pressure.
How are They Produced Commercially?
* Fermentation broth is superheated under specific conditions to
form a completely sterile nutrient medium
* The nutrient is converted into a desired enzyme by carefully
selected microorganism action in the presence of oxygen. The
choice of broth, microorganism, and operating conditions
determine the type and yield of enzyme.
* Once fermentation is completed, various centrifugal, filtration,
and precipitation processes separate the enzyme from the
fermentation broth.
Theres an enourmous amount of uses for enzymes,I cannot include
even a quarter of them ,but here are the most common examples:
Where Enzyme Products Are Used...
* Alcohol... starch into sugars, converted into alcohol.
* Animal Feed... degradation of feed components for improved
feed utilization and nutrient digestion. Reduction in nitrogen &
phosphorus in waste.
* Baking... modification of flour for improved baking properties,
anti-staling.
* Brewing... faster maturation of beer, chill proofing, removal of
carbohydrates for light beers, breaks down beta-glucanases
* Dairy... chymosin for cheese making, removal/conversion of
lactose in milk.
* Detergent... an active biological component of washing
powders or liquids. Granulated proteases, amylases, and
lipases break down starch and fatty stains. Cellulases are
included for the depilling, color brightening, and softening of
cotton garments being washed.
* Fats & Oils... modification of lecithins and syntheses of
specialty fats and oils
* Leather... soaking of hides and skins, unhairing, bating, and
defatting.
* Personal Care... biotechnology ingredients for personal care
products.
* Protein... improvement of nutritional and functional properties
of animal and vegetable proteins. Development of flavor bases
based on proteins.
* Pulp & Paper... control of pitch problems. Reduction of
chlorine consumption in pulp, bleaching, viscosity control in
starch-based coatings, de-inking for recycling programs.
* Starch... production of dextrose, fructose, and special syrups
for the baking,confectionery, and soft drink industries
Theres a very popular reference to the book called 'Industrial
Enzymes and their applications' by a german research scientist
Helmut Uhlig.I have taken a sneek peak into this book,and found
many useful information particularly about Industrial Enzymes and
their uses.Many interesting facts of enzymes are fascinating,I
decided to give a sneek preview of this book contains:
Types of Enzymes,a whole 3 pages ,here is at least a part of it:
Carbohydrases:Laundry detergents, dishwashing detergents,
industrial pipe/tank cleaners, textiles, pulp and paper, fermentation
ethano
Alpha-amylase: Bacterial a-amylase (e.g. Bacillus subtilis), Fungal a-
amylase (e.g., Aspergillus niger), Alkaline a-amylase,uses: Textiles,
starch syrups, laundry and dishwashing detergents, paper desizing,
fermentation ethanol, animal feed.
b-amylase: From a strain of Bacillus Brewing uses: maltose syrup
Cellulase:
Laundry and dishwashing, animal feed, textiles
b-Glucanase exo-b-1,4-glucanase, endo-b-1,4-glucanase: Brewing
industry
Dextranase Made by various microorganisms (e.g., Leuconostoc
mesenteriodes) Hydrolyzes the polysaccharidse dextran
Dextrinase (almost identical to a-glucosidase)
a-Galatosidase (melibiase)
The application of enzymes for the commercial production of high-
value fine chemicals is still limited. Known drawbacks of enzymes
have been their restricted stability, high production costs and low
conversion yields. The availability of novel types of biocatalysts,
made accessible by the application of innovative screening
techniques and genetic engineering, development of novel enzyme
processes and techniques to enhance enzyme performance will
contribute to a larger scale of industrial applications
Bioreactor(enzyme)
The majority of industrial processes which utilise enzymes are based
on a rather small number of biocatalysts, mainly derived from well-
established production strains. However, the use of enzymes under
technological operation may require that their performance
characteristics are modified away from the evolutionary sense, such
that they perform under specific industrial conditions more
effectively. The benefits of employing novel enzymes for specific
industrial processes is well recognised with the discovery of new
biocatalysts which express sector-compatible properties. The
identification of more stable versions of enzymes, with new or
enhanced catalytic activities, will enlarge the arsenal of available
biocatalysts. Such biocatalysts should have improved properties with
regard to stability, product yields, substrate specificity and suitability
to be employed in non-conventional solvent systems.
There are many more valuable uses of enzymes,and that makes this
biocatalyst particularly attractive to mass production industry,some
people are complaining against enzymes being present in their
detergents,washing powders,and therefore a new name non-bio
came out,which avoids enzymes,which I look at as an absolute waste
of time (my personal opinion).
Heres another fermentation machine that
does the following :
Biochemicals:
Amino acids
Citric acid
Enzymes
Vitamins
Transformations of steriods
Industrial chemicals
Foodstuffs:
Baking
Dairy products
Condiments
This machine is obviosly for sale from american company,and I dont
want to look at the prices there,cuz this machine can do so many
products,so of course its vital to have one of em for big companys
,generally for food companies.
To sum the whole thing up,enzymes are unique substances,which
are very useful as a biological catalyst,and they are harmless to
nature ,as they are highly biodegradable.Enzymes have numerous
uses ,including industry mass productions,there are many machines
that have been developed that can do countless processes with
enzymes,and make technology as it should be,a 100% useful...
