Enzymes of Industrial Significance and Their Applications

Enzymes play an enormous role in enriching and saving various forms of life on earth including humans. Enzymes also called biological catalysts have immense applications in various industrial sectors such as biofuel, food, pharmaceutical, agriculture, leather, paper, and textile. Isolation of these biocatalysts is carried out by employing various techniques such as metagenomics and genome mining and characterization by biochemical assays. Their characteristic properties, such as stability, activity, and production yield, are enhanced by optimizing the pH, temperature, and substrate specificity using various optimization strategies. Several parameters of an enzyme such as catalytic efficiency, structure as well as functional stability are required to be considered before selecting for industrial use. Currently, different enzyme engineering techniques are being employed for enhancing the enzyme properties like specific activity and structure stability to perform under harsh conditions of temperature, pH, and extended time durations, which make an enzyme suitable for industrial use. This chapter elaborates on the potential applications of enzymes in enhancing productivity, sustainability, and innovation in various industrial sectors. It also provides an overview of the current trends in enzyme engineering with a few important representative examples. Further research and development in this field holds great promise for future applications and economic benefits.