The Industrial Application of Enzymes.
Enzymes are naturally occurring biological molecules found in all living organisms, plant, animal and microorganisms such as bacteria. All enzymes are proteins and, as with all proteins, are made up of a chain or polymer of amino acids held together by peptide bonds. This chain coils to form a specific three-dimensional globular shape, which, typically, means an enzyme will only work with one specific substrate. The purpose of an enzyme is to lower the activation energy required for biochemical reactions to take place. As a result a reaction catalysed by an enzyme will be much more efficient at breaking down a substrate into its products and consequently are used in industry for just this purpose. To obtain these enzymes scientist look mostly to naturally occurring microorganisms, as they are the most productive producers, are easy to handle, can be grown in huge tanks without light, and have a very high growth rate. This may sound all very new and scientific but microorganisms have been used for brewing, baking and alcohol production long before anybody knew of the existence of enzymes. One of the earliest references can be found in Homer's Greek poems dating from about 800 BC where he mentions the use of enzymes in the production of cheese.
The starch industry has been using enzymes too for many years in the production of 'artificial' sweeteners. Although sucrose is readily available from the harvesting of cane or beet sugar, glucose and maltose need extracting from starch by enzymic or chemical extraction. Starch is a polymer where the individual units in the polymer are glucose molecules. Enzymes that degrade starch are called amylases. During both processes, chemical (typically acid-hydrolysis) and enzymic, glycosidic bonds between these ?-glucose molecules are hydrolysed leaving only single sub-units of glucose. However, in comparison with enzymic preparation, acid-hydrolysis tends to be costly and time consuming with the final yield often being of poor purity. The first use of enzymes in the 1960's heralded a breakthrough in the production of sweet sugars from starch.
Enzymes are naturally occurring biological molecules found in all living organisms, plant, animal and microorganisms such as bacteria. All enzymes are proteins and, as with all proteins, are made up of a chain or polymer of amino acids held together by peptide bonds. This chain coils to form a specific three-dimensional globular shape, which, typically, means an enzyme will only work with one specific substrate. The purpose of an enzyme is to lower the activation energy required for biochemical reactions to take place. As a result a reaction catalysed by an enzyme will be much more efficient at breaking down a substrate into its products and consequently are used in industry for just this purpose. To obtain these enzymes scientist look mostly to naturally occurring microorganisms, as they are the most productive producers, are easy to handle, can be grown in huge tanks without light, and have a very high growth rate. This may sound all very new and scientific but microorganisms have been used for brewing, baking and alcohol production long before anybody knew of the existence of enzymes. One of the earliest references can be found in Homer's Greek poems dating from about 800 BC where he mentions the use of enzymes in the production of cheese.
The starch industry has been using enzymes too for many years in the production of 'artificial' sweeteners. Although sucrose is readily available from the harvesting of cane or beet sugar, glucose and maltose need extracting from starch by enzymic or chemical extraction. Starch is a polymer where the individual units in the polymer are glucose molecules. Enzymes that degrade starch are called amylases. During both processes, chemical (typically acid-hydrolysis) and enzymic, glycosidic bonds between these ?-glucose molecules are hydrolysed leaving only single sub-units of glucose. However, in comparison with enzymic preparation, acid-hydrolysis tends to be costly and time consuming with the final yield often being of poor purity. The first use of enzymes in the 1960's heralded a breakthrough in the production of sweet sugars from starch.
