Industrial Processing of Commercially Significant Enzymes

Enzymes are highly specific and highly sensitive biocatalyst proteins that play important roles in various life processes. As they are proteins, thus, they are composed of amino acids joined together to form chains. These amino acids are linked by peptide bonds that form between the amino-terminal and carboxylic end. There is the multifaceted application of enzymes in various sectors that include food, textile, paints, pharmaceuticals, leather, oil industries, etc. There is a wide range of sources available for the extraction of enzymes. The commercially important enzymes are generally harvested from microbial sources. Some enzymes are produced extracellularly while some enzymes are produced intracellularly. The production of this bioactive compound could be enhanced by applying suitable optimization techniques, genetic engineering tools, and other modern techniques. One of the major challenges in the commercial production of enzymes is their extraction in pure form without losing their properties. Extraction of enzymes starts from upstream processing that mainly includes two types of fermentation; one is submerged fermentation and another one is solid-state fermentation. After upstream processing, downstream processing is followed which includes cell disruption, filtration, sedimentation and centrifugation, flocculation and coagulation, and chromatography. Then, enzyme purification strategies are followed (salting-out method, dialysis, gel filtration, ion-exchange chromatography, gel electrophoresis. The purpose of down streaming is to purify and concentrate the enzyme from the complex bulk matrix. A significant amount of total production cost is contributed by downstream processing. The review discusses the industrial importance of enzymes and their downstream processing techniques economically and sustainably.