Emerging Trends in Microbial Protease Application

Fermentation techniques are appealing sources of proteases as large amounts of microorganisms can be produced in a short period of time. Microbial proteases constitute approximately two-thirds of the detergent market in the world’s enzyme industry. They are also used as soil/environmental stress indicators and chemical substitutes. Little information is known about the reasons for differences in the selectivity of acidic, neutral, and alkaline proteases, even though their phylogeny is studied based on their protein sequences. Microbial enzymes have received a great deal of attention with respect to their broad applications in industry and medicine, thanks to their excellent catalytic efficiency, stability, and convenient production and engineering when compared with plant- or animal-derived ones. Enzymes are low-cost, natural, nontoxic products, energy-efficient, and very fast to process; hence, they have a wide application in foodstuff manufacturing, agricultural organisms’ protection, chemical production, and medicine. Depending on their composition, toxic substances may be solubilized or transformed by microbial enzymes (amines, nitriles, or phenolic compounds are some of those present in waste, domestic, and suspect waste). Microbial proteases can be exploited in many industries, such as cleaning, leather, silver recovery, milk processing, dairy industry, baking, beverages, and pharmaceuticals. These enzymes are already widely used in the food industry for waste minimization, both at home and on industrial sites, as well as for improving nutritive value, digestibility, palatability, flavor, and reduction of allergens. They also function in protein synthesis and in reading the genetic code.