Abstract

MISCELLANEOUS USE OF ENZYMES

*Michele Vitolo

Abstract

Enzymes are catalysts that act under gentle reaction conditions (room temperature and 4.0 < pH < 9.0). They present high specificity and enantiomer selectivity, enabling them to be largely used in industry (food, animal feeding, pharmaceutical, biotechnological, chemical, textile, laundry, waste treatments, leather, pulp and paper), clinical and chemical analyses, and therapy. Due to their specificity (hydrolysis of prostaglandin ethyl ester by esterase, for instance) and enantiomer selectivity (conversion of fumaric acid into malic acid or L-aspartic acid by fumarase), they have been used in the modification of complex and labile substances – largely used in immunology, endocrinology, among others – by introducing in the molecule structure one or two chiral carbon and/or a specific chemical group at a pre-defined position (conversion of progesterone into 11- hydroxyprogesterone, for example).

Keywords: Enzymes, industrial enzymes.