The Use of Enzymes in Industrial Processes

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The Use of Enzymes in Industrial Processes

2. An enzyme is a substance that acts as a catalyst in living

organisms, regulating the rate at which chemical reactions proceed

without itself being altered in the process.

Enzymes are used in industrial processes such as: Baking, Brewing,

Detergents, Fermented products, Pharmaceuticals, Textiles, Starch

processing. Here are a range of processes showing how enzymes are used

Use in Baking-1

The wheat flour used to make bread contains naturally occurring

enzymes that change the starch, protein and fibre in the flour when

water is added. Yeast added to the mixture also contains enzymes,

which ferment the maltose over time, to make the dough rise. The

interaction between different enzymes is complex and the wrong mixture

of enzymes can be damaging, for example, too much enzyme usually

results in the failure of the bread to rise properly. The advantages

of using enzymes is that they can improve consistency and efficiency

and they enable better handling of the dough and the control of

certain characteristics in the finished bread. The use of enzymes in

bread making shows their value in quality control and efficiency of

production.

Use in alcohol-1

In the alcohol industry, fermentation depends on the action of enzymes

helped by the yeasts and bacteria used in the production process. Beer

brewing essentially involves the yeast action on barley, maize,

sorghum, hops or rice. However the traditional malting process is an

expensive inefficient way of manufacturing enzymes. So nowadays

industrial enzymes such as amylases, glucanases and proteases are

added to unmalted barley to produce the same products that malting

would produce by more controlled means. The advantages of using

enzymes in the beverage industry allow it to be more economic and have

consistent quality.

Use in Fruit Juices-1

Enzymes are used in the processing of fruit juices to maximize the

production of clear or cloudy juice. Nearly all fruits contain pectin.

The presence of soluble pectin in squeezed juice causes cloudiness.

The addition of pectin degrading enzymes- pectin methyl esterase

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