Question

Name any two industrially important enzymes.

Answer 1

Hint: Nowadays many enzymes are being used as industrial enzymes to produce the desired products like medicines , food items , beverages and many types of chemicals. The enzymes which are used for the production of essential consumer products in the industries are called industrial enzymes.

Complete step by step answer:
Amylases -
This group of enzymes naturally occurs in living organisms but it can be isolated and can be used as an industrial enzyme.
The major function of amylase is the breakdown of starch into sugars by a process called hydrolysis. This helps in digestion in humans and other mammals.
The industrial use of this enzyme can be the production of food items (such as syrups and juices). It also aids in the fermentation process (alcohol production and baking process ).
Industrial production of amylase can be achieved also by recombinant DNA technique.

-Pectinases
This group of enzymes is majorly found in plant cell walls. Pectin is the structural component of the plant cell wall which is digested by the enzyme Pectinases.
Pectin is also found in cell walls of fruits , thus providing them a structural framework.
By dissolving pectin from Pectinases , the fruit becomes soft and thus their juices can be extracted from them. This is one of the industrial uses of Pectinases.
Also the bottled juices are clarified by use of Pectinases.
Pectinases can also be used in the paper industry to make paper as it also aids in digestion of cellulose by digesting the cell wall of plant cells.

Note: The catalytic activity of the enzyme is enhanced artificially by the industrial processes so as compared to enzymes present in living organisms , the same enzyme is made to function much more rapidly outside the living being. Enzymes are used in industries only after specific concentration and purification processes.