The Industrial Application of Enzymes

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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 tonaturally 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....

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... a pair of jeans would be

washed literally together with stones, in recent years enzymes have

replaced the stones. This technique, known as Biostoning, results in

much greater fading without the high abrasive damage both to the

actual fabric of the jeans and the washing machines in which the

process takes place.

There are even enzymes which will peel a citrus fruit or de-stone a

peach for you. These are commonly used only in the catering industry

as a replacement for caustic soda, however maybe one day the use of

enzymes for medial tasks like peeling an orange will become

commonplace.

Bibliography:

http://www.gcsechemistry.com/rc13d.htm

http://www.ncbe.reading.ac.uk/NCBE/PROTOCOLS/PRACBIOTECH/PDF/wash.pdf

http://www.acaris.co.uk/asthma/faq.html

http://www.mycustompak.com/healthNotes/Supp/FOS.htm

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