Pectinase Enzyme Report

Introduction

Pectinase is a group of enzyme which catalyzes the breakdown of pectin-containing substances. It is an integral part in various industrial applications including treating of cotton fabric, paper bleaching, extraction and clarification of fruit juices, removal of pectin from pectic waste waters and tea leaves maceration and other biotechnological applications (Kashyap et al., 2000; Rajendran, 2011 ). These enzymes are commonly produced by Erwinia sp., Aspergillus niger, and by plants such as peaches, carrots, apples and citrus (Alonso et al., 2003). This group of enzymes consists of pectinesterase (PE (E.C 3.1.1.11)), polygalacturonase (PG (E.C 3.2.1.15)) and pectin lyase (PL (E.C 4.2.2.10)) (Singh & Mandal, 2012). Among the pectinolytic enzymes, Plygalacturonase, is the most abundant (Sharma, 2012). The production of pectinase is induced by the presence of pectin. Like other hydrolases (enzymes that catalyze the breakdown of carbohydrates), pectinase is produced alongside growth of the microorganism to breakdown complex polysaccharides such as pectin for nutritional purposes (Hoondal et al., 2002). Pectin content for viable pectinase production using agro-industrial residues range from 0.5-30.0% (Jayani et al., 2005).

Pectin is a polysaccharide found in the cell walls of all plant tissue. It gives the plant rigidity since it acts as intercellular cement. Pectinase turns

Based on the metabolic needs of the fermentation microorganisms, the water activity/moisture, temperature, fermentation period and pH, and physical factors such as particle size are among the main SSF parameters (Chen, 2013). Temperature, pH and fermentation period are all well documented parameters in SSF. However, little is known on the other process parameters such as particle size and moisture level which are both considered the most critical in an SSF process (Pandey et al.,