Application of Enzymes in
Industry
Enzymes in Industry-WHY
• Key roles in numerous biotechnology products and processes that are
commonly encountered in the form of food and beverages, cleaning
supplies, clothing, paper products, transportation fuels, and
pharmaceuticals
• Enzymes can display stereo specificity, properties that have been
exploited for asymmetric synthesis and racemic resolution.
• Chiral selectivity is employed to prepare enantiomerically pure
pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, chemical feedstocks, and food additives.
• Industrial enzyme market has expanded at a rate of about 10% annually,
microbial enzymes have largely replaced the traditional plant and animal
enzymes, and most of them are produced recombinantly.
• DNA technology has been used to modify substrate specificity and
improve stability properties of enzymes for increasing yields of enzymecatalyzed reactions.
Industrial Uses
1. Starch conversions
• Production of glucose syrup
• Production of high fructose corn syrup
• Production of high maltose conversion syrups
• Production of cyclodextrins
• Production of ethanol
2. Lignocellulosic Biomass conversions
• Cellulose conversion
• Hemicellulose conversion
• Lignin conversion
Industrial Uses
3. Enzymes in the Production of Functional Oligosaccharides
4. Enzymes in the Modification of Fats and Oils
5. Enzymes in the Animal Feed Industry
6. Enzymes in the Pulp and Paper Industry
7. Enzymes in the Fruit Juice Processing Industry
8. Enzymes in the Meat and Fish Processing Industry
9. Enzymes in the Dairy Industry
10.Enzymes in Detergents
11. Enzymes in the Leather Industry
12.Enzymes in the Production of Bulk and Fine Chemicals
13.Analytical Applications of Enzymes
14.Enzyme-Replacement Therapy
15.Medical/Diagnostic use
What’s the
connection?
Enzymes in industry
Enzymes from microorganisms have many uses in the home
and in industry
Proteases and lipases are used in biological detergents
Proteases, carbohydrases and isomerase are used in food
manufacture
Advantages and disadvantages of using enzymes at home and
in industry
Enzymes can be used as diagnostic tool in medicine and to
treat some diseases
Enzymes in the home
•Baby food: Proteases such as trypsin are used to predigest the protein in baby foods.
• Baking (bread): Fungal enzymes are used to catalyze the breakdown of starch into sugar. The
enzymes also produce carbon dioxide gas, which makes the dough rise.
• Biological detergent (washing powder): Proteases, amylases and lipases are used to remove
protein, starch and oily stains from clothes.
• Brewing (beer): Proteases in barley are released as it is fermented during beer production.
The enzymes break-down starch, carbohydrases and proteins, and clarify stored beers.
• Confectionary (chocolates): Enzymes are used to make soft-centred chocolates.
• Dairy products (cheese): Rennet (an enzyme from calves’ stomachs) is used to coagulate milk
during cheese production, separating the curd (solids) from the whey (liquid). Lipases are used
to enhance the flavour and ripening of blue cheeses, and lactases are used to break downlactose into glucose and Galactose.
• Fruit juice: Enzymes that act on cellulose reduce the cloudiness of fruit juices.
• Paper (penicillin box): Proteases and cellulases are used to soften and smooth pulped fibres
during paper manufacture
• Photography: Proteases are used to dissolve gelatin from waste film, allowing its silver content
to be recovered and recycled.
• Rubber (place mat in high chair): Catalase is used to convert latex into foam rubber.
Chocolate
Isomerase converts the sugar glucose into fructose,
another type of sugar.
Fructose is sweeter than glucose, so a smaller amount is
needed. This makes fructose syrup a useful ingredient in
slimming foods.
Invertase is used to create soft-centered chocolates. The
centre initially contains sucrose (cane sugar) and is hard.
The invertase breaks
down the sucrose into the
simpler sugars glucose
and fructose, making the
centre soft and runny.
Enzymes are used in biological washing powders
• Proteases break down the coloured, insoluble proteins
that cause stains to smaller, colourless soluble
polypeptides.
• Can wash at lower temperatures
Lactose intolerant?
Lactase breaks down lactose in milk into glucose and galactose.
This makes milk drinkable for lactose intolerant people.
Bio vs. Non- Bio?
What’s the difference?
Biological = contains proteases, amylases,
lipases. Work best at 40 oC.
Bio vs. Non- Bio?
Biological = contains proteases, amylases,
lipases. Work best at 40 oC.
Enzymes to break down stains
from sweat, fat, grass, blood etc.
Environmentally
friendly as
washes can be
done at lower
temperatures
Baby Food
Proteases pre- digest
proteins for the baby.
Sports Drinks
Starch is
converted to
sugar syrup using
carbohydrases.
Starch is very cheap as it is made
by plants like Corn. Therefore using
enzymes to convert plant starch
into sweet sugar is a cheap source
of sweetness
Slimming Foods
Glucose is converted to fructose using
isomerase.
Fructose is sweeter so we use less of it =
fewer calories.
Diagnostics
• Liver enzymes found in the blood indicate liver damage
• Urine from diabetics contains glucose. An enzyme in
clinistrips breaks down glucose which causes an
indicator to change colour.
Medicine
• Lipase is put in capsules for people with pancreatic
disease
• The enzyme streptokinase is injected into heart attack
patients to dissolve blood clots
• Enzymes are used to treat blood cancer in children
Enzyme
Enzyme use
What it does
Proteases
baby food
break down stains
Proteases and
lipases
biological
washing powders
changes lactose
to glucose and
galactose
Carbohydrases
change starch
pre-digests some
proteins
Isomerase
convert glucose
turns into the
sweeter fructose
Lactase
make milk for
turns it into sugar
lactose intolerant
syrup
people
Enzyme
enzyme use
what it does
Proteases
baby food
pre-digests some
proteins
Proteases and
lipases
Carbohydrases
Isomerase
Lactase
biological
washing powders break down stains
change starch
turns into sugar
syrup
turns into the
convert glucose sweeter fructose
make yoghurt
changes lactose
to glucose and
galactose
Enzymes for starch conversion
a-amylase randomly hydrolyse a-1,4 linkages in both amylose and
amylopectin to yeild mixture of glucose, maltose, and maltotriose
b-amylase sometimes used in place of a-amylase. They hydrolyze
alternate a-1,4 linkages and yield maltose residues
Glucoamylase hydrolyses a-1,3. a-1,4 and a-1,6 linkages but is less
efficient than a-amylase. Major role is to break cross links of
amylopectin resulting in complete breakdown to glucose. Generally used
to reduce CHO content of beers. Industrially obtained from fungus
Aspergillus niger.
Glucose isomerase is used for conversion of glucose obtained after
processing to fructose.
RESTRICTION
ENDONUCLEASES
“the Molecular Scissors”
The 1978 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine was awarded to
Daniel Nathans, Werner Arber, and Hamilton Smith for their discovery of
REs
RESTRICTION ENDONUCLEASES
RECOGNIZE and CUT specific 4 – 6
bp PALINDROME sequences known
as restriction sites
AluI
5’- A G C T - 3’
3’- T C G A - 5’
5’- G A A T T C – 3’
EcoRI
3’- C T T A A G – 5’
RESTRICTION
ENDONUCLEASES
• Most restriction enzymes occur
naturally in bacteria.
• Protect bacteria against viruses by
cutting up viral DNA.
• Bacteria protects their own DNA from
being cut up by methylation of
restriction sites.
• More than 400 restriction enzymes
have been isolated and are
commercially available.
RESTRICTION
ENDONUCLEASES
Blunt ends
Sticky ends
AGCT
GAAT T C
TCGA
C T TAAG
AluI
EcoRI
AG
CT
G
TC
GA
C T TAA
AAT T C
G
• Insulin
• Taq DNA Polymerse
• Many Industrial enzymes from microorganisms
are recombinant.