Ch.5 — The Chemical Industry • 93 
Table 11.— Some Commercial Enzymes and Their Uses 
Enzyme 
Source 
Industry and application 
Amylase 
Animal (pancreas) 
Pharmaceutical; digestive aids 
Textile: desizing agent 
Plant (barley malt) 
Baking; flour supplement 
Brewing, distilling, and industrial alcohol: mashing 
Food: precooked baby foods 
Pharmaceutical: digestive aids 
Textile: desizing agent 
Fungi {Aspergillus niger, A. oryzae) 
Baking; flour supplement 
Brewing, distilling, and industrial alcohol: mashing 
Food: precooked baby foods, syrup manufacture 
Pharmaceutical: digestive aids 
Bacteria (Bacillus subtilis) 
Paper: starch coatings 
Starch: cold-swelling laundry starch 
Bromelin 
Plant (pineapple) 
Food; meat tenderizer 
Pharmaceutical: digestive aids 
Cellulase and hemicellulase .. 
Fungi (Aspergillus niger) 
Food; preparation of liquid coffee concentrates 
Dextransucrase 
Bacteria (Leuconosloc mesenteroides) 
Pharmaceutical: preparation of blood-plasma 
extenders, and dextran for other uses 
Ficin 
Glucose oxidase (plus catalase 
Plant (fig latex) 
Pharmaceutical: debriding agent 
or peroxidase) 
Fungi (Aspergillus niger) 
Pharmaceutical: test paper for diabetes 
Food; glucose removal from egg solids 
Invertase 
Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) 
Candy: prevents granulation of sugars in soft-center 
candies 
Food: artificial honey 
Lactase 
Yeast (Saccharomyces fragilis) 
Dairy; prevents crystallization of lactose in ice cream 
and concentrated milk 
Lipase 
Fungi (Aspergillus niger) 
Dairy: flavor production in cheese 
Papain 
Plant (papaya) 
Brewing: stabilizes chill-proof beer 
Food: meat tenderizer 
Pectinase 
Fungi (Aspergillus niger) 
Wine and fruit juice: clarification 
Penicillinase 
Bacteria (Bacillus cereus) 
Medicine: treatment of allergic reaction to penicillin, 
diagnostic agent 
Pepsin 
Animal (hog stomach) 
Food: animal feed supplement 
Protease 
Animal (pancreas) 
Dairy: prevents oxidized flavor 
Food: protein hydrolysates 
Leather: bating 
Pharmaceutical: digestive aids 
Textile; desizing agent 
Animal (pepsin) 
Brewing: beer stabilizer 
Animal (rennin, rennet) 
Dairy: cheese 
Animal (trypsin) 
Pharmaceutical: wound debridement 
Fungi (Aspergillus oryzae) 
Baking: bread 
Food: meat tenderizer 
Bacteria (Bacillus subtilis) 
Baking: modification of cracker dough 
Brewing: clarifier 
Streptodornase 
Bacteria (Streptococcus pyrogenes) 
Pharmaceutical: wound debridement 
SOURCE: David Perlman. “The Fermentation Industries." American Society lor Microbiology News 39:10, 1973, p. 653. 
have been developed, the cost of raw materials 
becomes the limiting step in production. If a 
strain of yeast, for example, produces 5 percent 
ethanol using sugar as a raw material, the proc- 
ess might become economically competitive if 
tbe cost of sugar drops or the price of petro- 
leum rises. Even if prices remain stable, the 
micro-organisms might be genetically impro\ ed 
to increase their yield; genetic manipulation 
might soK'e the problem of an inefficient 
organism. Finally, the production process itself 
is a factor. After fermentation, the desired prod- 
uct must be separated from the other com- 
pounds in the reaction mixture. As an aid to re- 
covery, the production conditions might be 
altered and improved to generate more of a de- 
sired compound. 
More than one raw material can be used in a 
fermentation process. If, in the case of ethanol. 
