Immobilization of Aspergillus oryzae β-galactosidase in an agarose matrix functionalized by four different methods and application to the synthesis of lactulose

β-Galactosidase: a traditional enzyme given multiple roles through protein engineering

β-Galactosidases are crucial carbohydrate-active enzymes that naturally catalyze the hydrolysis of galactoside bonds in oligo- and disaccharides. These enzymes are commonly used to degrade lactose and produce low-lactose and lactose-free dairy products that are beneficial for lactose-intolerant people. β-galactosidases exhibit transgalactosylation activity, and they have been employed in the synthesis of galactose-containing compounds such as galactooligosaccharides. However, most β-galactosidases have intrinsic limitations, such as low transglycosylation efficiency, significant product inhibition effects, weak thermal stability, and a narrow substrate spectrum, which greatly hinder their applications. Enzyme engineering offers a solution for optimizing their catalytic performance. The study of the enzyme's structure paves the way toward explaining catalytic mechanisms and increasing the efficiency of enzyme engineering. In this review, the structure features of β-galactosidases from different glycosyl hydrolase families and the catalytic mechanisms are summarized in detail to offer guidance for protein engineering. The properties and applications of β-galactosidases are discussed. Additionally, the latest progress in β-galactosidase engineering and the strategies employed are highlighted. Based on the combined analysis of structure information and catalytic mechanisms, the ultimate goal of this review is to furnish a thorough direction for β-galactosidases engineering and promote their application in the food and dairy industries.

Lactulose production from lactose isomerization by chemo-catalysts and enzymes: Current status and future perspectives

Lactulose, a semisynthetic nondigestive disaccharide with versatile applications in the food and pharmaceutical industries, has received increasing interest due to its significant health-promoting effects. Currently, industrial lactulose production is exclusively carried out by chemical isomerization of lactose via the Lobry de Bruyn-Alberda van Ekenstein (LA) rearrangement, and much work has been directed toward improving the conversion efficiency in terms of lactulose yield and purity by using new chemo-catalysts and integrated catalytic-purification systems. Lactulose can also be produced by an enzymatic route offering a potentially greener alternative to chemo-catalysis with fewer side products. Compared to the controlled trans-galactosylation by β-galactosidase, directed isomerization of lactose with high isomerization efficiency catalyzed by the most efficient lactulose-producing enzyme, cellobiose 2-epimerase (CE), has gained much attention in recent decades. To further facilitate the industrial translation of CE-based lactulose biotransformation, numerous studies have been reported on improving biocatalytic performance through enzyme mediated molecular modification. This review summarizes recent developments in the chemical and enzymatic production of lactulose. Related catalytic mechanisms are also highlighted and described in detail. Emerging techniques that aimed at advancing lactulose production, such as the boronate affinity-based technique and molecular biological techniques, are reviewed. Finally, perspectives on challenges and opportunities in lactulose production and purification are also discussed.

Galacto-Oligosaccharide (GOS) Synthesis during Enzymatic Lactose-Free Milk Production: State of the Art and Emerging Opportunities

Much attention has recently been paid to β-Galactosidases (β-D-galactoside galactohidrolase; EC 3.2.1.23), commonly known as lactases, due to the lactose intolerance of the human population and the importance of dairy products in the human diet. This enzyme, produced by microorganisms, is being used in the dairy industry for hydrolyzing the lactose found in milk to produce lactose-free milk (LFM). Conventionally, β-galactosidases catalyze the hydrolysis of lactose to produce glucose and galactose in LFM; however, they can also catalyze transgalactosylation reactions that produce a wide range of galactooligosaccharides (GOS), which are functional prebiotic molecules that confer health benefits to human health. In this field, different works aims to identify novel microbial sources of β-galactosidase for removing lactose from milk with the relative GOS production. Lactase extracted from thermophilic microorganisms seems to be more suitable for the transgalactosylation process at relatively high temperatures, as it inhibits microbial contamination. Different immobilization methods, such as adsorption, covalent attachment, chemical aggregation, entrapment and micro-encapsulation, have been used to synthesize lactose-derived oligosaccharides with immobilized β-galactosidases. In this mini-review, particular emphasis has been given to the immobilization techniques and bioreactor configurations developed for GOS synthesis in milk, in order to provide a more detailed overview of the biocatalytic production of milk oligosaccharides at industrial level.

Immobilization of Enzymes by Polymeric Materials

Enzymes are the highly efficient biocatalyst in modern biotechnological industries. Due to the fragile property exposed to the external stimulus, the application of enzymes is highly limited. The immobilized enzyme by polymer has become a research hotspot to empower enzymes with more extraordinary properties and broader usage. Compared with free enzyme, polymer immobilized enzymes improve thermal and operational stability in harsh environments, such as extreme pH, temperature and concentration. Furthermore, good reusability is also highly expected. The first part of this study reviews the three primary immobilization methods: physical adsorption, covalent binding and entrapment, with their advantages and drawbacks. The second part of this paper includes some polymer applications and their derivatives in the immobilization of enzymes.

Catalyst Replacement Policy on Multienzymatic Systems: Theoretical Study in the One-Pot Sequential Batch Production of Lactofructose Syrup

One-pot systems are an interesting proposal to carry out multi-enzymatic reactions, though this strategy implies establishing an optimal balance between the activity and operability of the involved enzymes. This is crucial for enzymes with marked differences in their operational stability, such as one-pot production of lactofructose syrup from cheese whey permeate, which involves two enzymes—β-galactosidase (β-gal) and glucose isomerase (GI). The aim of this work was to study the behavior of one-pot sequential batch production of lactofructose syrup considering both enzymes immobilized individually, in order to evaluate and design a strategy of replacement of the catalysts according to their stabilities. To this end, the modelling and simulation of the process was carried out, considering simultaneously the kinetics of both reactions and the kinetics of inactivation of both enzymes. For the latter, it was also considered the modulating effect that sugars present in the medium may have on the stability of β-gal, which is the less stable enzyme. At the simulated reaction conditions of 40 °C, pH 7, and 0.46 (IUGI/IUβ-gal), the results showed that considering the stability of β-gal under non-reactive conditions, meaning in absence of the effect of modulation, it is necessary to carry out four replacements of β-gal for each cycle of use of GI. On the other hand, when considering the modulation caused by the sugars on the β-gal stability, the productivity increases up to 23% in the case of the highest modulation factor studied (η = 0.8). This work shows the feasibility of conducting a one-pot operation with immobilized enzymes of quite different operational stability, and that a proper strategy of biocatalyst replacement increases the productivity of the process.

Development of a Hybrid Bioinorganic Nanobiocatalyst: Remarkable Impact of the Immobilization Conditions on Activity and Stability of β-Galactosidase

Hybrid bioinorganic biocatalysts have received much attention due to their simple synthesis, high efficiency, and structural features that favor enzyme activity and stability. The present work introduces a biomineralization strategy for the formation of hybrid nanocrystals from β-galactosidase. The effects of the immobilization conditions were studied, identifying the important effect of metal ions and pH on the immobilization yield and the recovered activity. For a deeper understanding of the biomineralization process, an in silico study was carried out to identify the ion binding sites at the different conditions. The selected β-galactosidase nanocrystals showed high specific activity (35,000 IU/g biocatalyst) and remarkable thermal stability with a half-life 11 times higher than the soluble enzyme. The nanobiocatalyst was successfully tested for the synthesis of galacto-oligosaccharides, achieving an outstanding performance, showing no signs of diffusional limitations. Thus, a new, simple, biocompatible and inexpensive nanobiocatalyst was produced with high enzyme recovery (82%), exhibiting high specific activity and high stability, with promising industrial applications.

β-Galactosidase-Producing Isolates in Mucoromycota: Screening, Enzyme Production, and Applications for Functional Oligosaccharide Synthesis

β-Galactosidases of Mucoromycota are rarely studied, although this group of filamentous fungi is an excellent source of many industrial enzymes. In this study, 99 isolates from the genera Lichtheimia, Mortierella, Mucor, Rhizomucor, Rhizopus and Umbelopsis, were screened for their β-galactosidase activity using a chromogenic agar approach. Ten isolates from the best producers were selected, and the activity was further investigated in submerged (SmF) and solid-state (SSF) fermentation systems containing lactose and/or wheat bran substrates as enzyme production inducers. Wheat bran proved to be efficient for the enzyme production under both SmF and SSF conditions, giving maximum specific activity yields from 32 to 12,064 U/mg protein and from 783 to 22,720 U/mg protein, respectively. Oligosaccharide synthesis tests revealed the suitability of crude β-galactosidases from Lichtheimia ramosa Szeged Microbiological Collection (SZMC) 11360 and Rhizomucor pusillus SZMC 11025 to catalyze transgalactosylation reactions. In addition, the crude enzyme extracts had transfructosylation activity, resulting in the formation of fructo-oligosaccharide molecules in a sucrose-containing environment. The maximal oligosaccharide concentration varied between 0.0158 and 2.236 g/L depending on the crude enzyme and the initial material. Some oligosaccharide-enriched mixtures supported the growth of probiotics, indicating the potential of the studied enzyme extracts in future prebiotic synthesis processes.

β-galactosidase from Kluyveromyces lactis in genipin-activated chitosan: An investigation on immobilization, stability, and application in diluted UHT milk

The objective of this research was to evaluate the immobilization of the enzyme β-galactosidase in a genipin-activated chitosan support. The influence of the number of spheres and substrate concentration on immobilization yield (IY) and enzyme activity (EA) was analyzed using experimental design. Thermal, operational and storage stabilities were assessed, and the enzymatic derivatives were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The TGA showed that the enzymatic derivatives kept their thermal behavior, and the SEM images revealed smooth surfaces in all the spheres. The optimized conditions for the immobilization process were 4.57 mg·mL^-1 of spheres and a substrate concentration of 10 mM (IY = 84.13%; EA = 24.97 U·g^-1). Thermal stability was enhanced at 10 and 37 °C, enabling four successive cycles of lactose hydrolysis in diluted UHT milk. Therefore, the immobilized enzyme in genipin-activated chitosan has potential for lactose hydrolysis and applications in the food industry.

Magnetic graphene oxide nanocomposites as an effective support for lactase immobilization with improved stability and enhanced photothermal enzymatic activity

Magnetic graphene oxide-immobilized lactase with high loading capacity, improved stabilities, and photothermal enhancement of activity has been reported.

Molecular Characterization of a Novel 1,3-α-3,6-Anhydro-L-Galactosidase, Ahg943, with Cold- and High-Salt-Tolerance from Gayadomonas joobiniege G7

1,3-α-3,6-anhydro-L-galactosidase (α-neoagarooligosaccharide hydrolase) catalyzes the last step of agar degradation by hydrolyzing neoagarobiose into monomers, D-galactose, and 3,6-anhydro-Lgalactose, which is important for the bioindustrial application of algal biomass. Ahg943, from the agarolytic marine bacterium Gayadomonas joobiniege G7, is composed of 423 amino acids (47.96 kDa), including a 22-amino acid signal peptide. It was found to have 67% identity with the α-neoagarooligosaccharide hydrolase ZgAhgA, from Zobellia galactanivorans, but low identity (< 40%) with the other α-neoagarooligosaccharide hydrolases reported. The recombinant Ahg943 (rAhg943, 47.89 kDa), purified from Escherichia coli, was estimated to be a monomer upon gel filtration chromatography, making it quite distinct from other α-neoagarooligosaccharide hydrolases. The rAhg943 hydrolyzed neoagarobiose, neoagarotetraose, and neoagarohexaose into D-galactose, neoagarotriose, and neoagaropentaose, respectively, with a common product, 3,6- anhydro-L-galactose, indicating that it is an exo-acting α-neoagarooligosaccharide hydrolase that releases 3,6-anhydro-L-galactose by hydrolyzing α-1,3 glycosidic bonds from the nonreducing ends of neoagarooligosaccharides. The optimum pH and temperature of Ahg943 activity were 6.0 and 20°C, respectively. In particular, rAhg943 could maintain enzyme activity at 10°C (71% of the maximum). Complete inhibition of rAhg943 activity by 0.5 mM EDTA was restored and even, remarkably, enhanced by Ca²⁺ ions. rAhg943 activity was at maximum at 0.5 M NaCl and maintained above 73% of the maximum at 3M NaCl. K_m and V_max of rAhg943 toward neoagarobiose were 9.7 mg/ml and 250 μM/min (3 U/mg), respectively. Therefore, Ahg943 is a unique α-neoagarooligosaccharide hydrolase that has cold- and high-salt-adapted features, and possibly exists as a monomer.

Immobilization of Aspergillus oryzae β-galactosidase in cation functionalized agarose matrix and its application in the synthesis of lactulose

Aspergillus oryzae β-galactosidase was immobilized in in-house quaternary ammonium agarose (QAA) and used for the first time in the synthesis of lactulose. A biocatalyst was obtained with a specific activity of 24,690 IU_H∙g^-1; protein immobilization yield of 97% and enzyme immobilization yield of 76% were obtained at 30 °C in 10 mM phosphate buffer pH 7 for standard size agarose at 100 mg_protein∙g_support^-1 which the maximum protein load of QAA. Highest yield and specific productivity of lactulose were 0.24 g∙g^-1 and 9.78 g∙g^-1 h^-1 respectively, obtained at pH 6, 100 IU_H∙g lactose^-1 enzyme/lactose ratio and 12 lactose/fructose molar ratio. In repeated-batch operation with the immobilized enzyme, the cumulative mass of lactulose per unit mass of contacted protein and cumulative specific productivity were higher than obtained with the soluble enzyme since the first batch. After enzyme activity exhaustion, the enzyme was desorbed and QAA support was reused without alteration in its maximum enzyme load capacity and without detriment in yield, productivity and selectivity in the batch synthesis of lactulose with the resulting biocatalyst. This significantly decreases the economic impact of the support, presenting itself as a distinctive advantage of immobilization by ionic interaction.

A comprehensive review on incredible renewable carriers as promising platforms for enzyme immobilization & thereof strategies

Enzymes are the highly versatile bio-catalysts having the potential for being employed in biotechnological and industrial sectors to catalyze biosynthetic reactions over a commercial point of view. Immobilization of enzymes has improved catalytic properties, retention activities, thermal and storage stabilities as well as reusabilities of enzymes in synthetic environments that have enthralled significant attention over the past few years. Dreadful efforts have been emphasized on the renewable and synthetic supports/composite materials to reserve their inherent characteristics such as biocompatibility, non-toxicity, accessibility of numerous reactive sites for profitable immobilization of biological molecules that often serve diverse applications in the pharmaceutical, environmental, and energy sectors. Supports should be endowed with unique physicochemical properties including high specific surface area, hydrophobicity, hydrophilicity, enantioselectivities, multivalent functionalization which professed them as competent carriers for enzyme immobilization. Organic, inorganic, and nano-based platforms are more potent, stable, highly recovered even after used for continuous catalytic processes, broadly renders the enzymes to get efficiently immobilized to develop an inherent bio-catalytic system that displays higher activities as compared to free-counter parts. This review highlights the recent advances or developments on renewable and synthetic matrices that are utilized for the immobilization of enzymes to deliver emerging applications around the globe.

Different strategies to co-immobilize dextransucrase and dextranase onto agarose based supports: Operational stability study

Co-immobilization is a groundbreaking technique for enzymatic catalysis, sometimes strategic, as for dextransucrase and dextranase. In this approach, dextranase hydrolytic action removes the dextran layer that covers dextransucrase reactive groups, improving the immobilization. Another advantage is the synergic effect of the two enzymes towards prebiotic oligosaccharides production. Thus, both enzymes were co-immobilized onto the heterobifunctional support Amino-Epoxy-Glyoxyl-Agarose (AMEG) and the ion exchanger support monoaminoethyl-N-ethyl-agarose (Manae) at pH 5.2 and 10, followed or not by glutaraldehyde treatment. This work is the first attempt to immobilize dextransucrase under alkaline conditions. The immobilized dextransucrase on AMEG support at pH 10 (12.78 ± 0.70 U/g) presents a similar activity of the biocatalyst produced at pH 5.2 (14.95 ± 0.82 U/g). The activity of dextranase immobilized onto Manae was 5-fold higher than the obtained onto AMEG support. However, the operational stability test showed that the biocatalyst produced on AMEG at pH 5.2 kept >60% of both enzyme activities for five batches. The glutaraldehyde treatment was not worthwhile to improve the operational stability of this biocatalyst.

Synthesis of Butyl-β-D-Galactoside in the Ternary System: Acetone/1-Butanol/Aqueous Solution

The enzymatic synthesis of short-tailed alkyl glucosides is generally carried out in an aqueous-organic biphasic reaction medium with a rather low fatty alcohol concentration in the aqueous phase (where the synthesis occurs). Thus, hydrolytic reactions have a significant impact on the synthesis performance. Given this background, the use of acetone as cosolvent was studied for the synthesis of butyl-β-galactoside with Aspergillus oryzae β-galactosidase. The liquid-liquid equilibrium of the reaction mixture components (acetone/1-butanol/aqueous solution) was determined and the single- and two-phase regions were defined at 30, 40, and 50°C. It was observed that the liquid-liquid equilibrium of the ternary system acetone/1-butanol/water differs significantly from the one obtained using an aqueous solution (50 mM McIlvaine buffer pH 4.5; 5 g L^-1) instead of water. This is mainly because of the salting-out effect of the buffer; nevertheless, the presence of lactose also altered the equilibrium. Having this in mind, the effects of temperature (30 and 50°C) and reaction mixture composition were assessed. Three general conditions were evaluated: single-phase ternary system (30% acetone), two-phase ternary system (10% acetone) and two-phase binary system (0% acetone). Acetone had a deleterious effect on enzyme stability at 50°C, leading to low reaction yields. However, no enzyme deactivation was detected at 30°C. Moreover, a reaction yield of 0.98 mol mol^-1 was attained in the 30/50/20% (w/w) mixture of acetone/1-butanol/aqueous solution. This very high yield can be explained by the huge increase in the concentration of 1-butanol and the reduction of water activity. The synthesis was carried out using also the β-galactosidase immobilized in glyoxal-agarose and amino-glyoxal-agarose, and by aggregation and crosslinking. In the case of agarose-derived catalysts, two average particle diameters were assessed to evaluate the presence of internal mass transfer limitations. Best yield (0.88 mol mol^-1) was obtained with glyoxal-agarose derivatives and the particle size had non-effect on yield. The chemical structure of butyl-β-galactoside was determined by NMR and FT-IR.

Recent advances in β-galactosidase and fructosyltransferase immobilization technology

The highly demanding conditions of industrial processes may lower the stability and affect the activity of enzymes used as biocatalysts. Enzyme immobilization emerged as an approach to promote stabilization and easy removal of enzymes for their reusability. The aim of this review is to go through the principal immobilization strategies addressed to achieve optimal industrial processes with special care on those reported for two types of enzymes: β-galactosidases and fructosyltransferases. The main methods used to immobilize these two enzymes are adsorption, entrapment, covalent coupling and cross-linking or aggregation (no support is used), all of them having pros and cons. Regarding the support, it should be cost-effective, assure the reusability and an easy recovery of the enzyme, increasing its stability and durability. The discussion provided showed that the type of enzyme, its origin, its purity, together with the type of immobilization method and the support will affect the performance during the enzymatic synthesis. Enzymes' immobilization involves interdisciplinary knowledge including enzymology, nanotechnology, molecular dynamics, cellular physiology and process design. The increasing availability of facilities has opened a variety of possibilities to define strategies to optimize the activity and re-usability of β-galactosidases and fructosyltransferases, but there is still great place for innovative developments.

Amino-modified kraft lignin microspheres as a support for enzyme immobilization

In this research, it has been demonstrated that amino-modified microspheres (A-LMS) based on bio-waste derived material, such as kraft lignin, have good prospects in usage as a support for enzyme immobilization, since active biocatalyst systems were prepared by immobilizing β-galactosidase from A. oryzae and laccase from M. thermophila expressed in A. oryzae (Novozym® 51003) onto A-LMS. Two types of A-LMS were investigated, with different emulsifier concentrations (5 wt% and 10 wt%), and microspheres produced using 5 wt% of emulsifier (A-LMS_5) showed adequate pore shape, size and distribution for enzyme attachment. The type of interactions formed between enzymes (β-galactosidase and laccase) and A-LMS_5 microspheres demonstrated that β-galactosidase is predominantly attached via electrostatic interactions while attachment of laccase is equally governed by electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions. Furthermore, the A-LMS_5-β-galactosidase exhibited specificity towards recognized prebiotics (galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS)) synthesis with 1.5-times higher GOS production than glucose production, while for environmental pollutant lindane degradation, the immobilized laccase preparation exhibited high activity with a minimum remaining lindane concentration of 22.4% after 6 days. Thus, this novel enzyme immobilization support A-LMS_5 has potential for use in green biotechnologies.

Implications of agar and agarase in industrial applications of sustainable marine biomass

Agar, a major component of the cell wall of red algae, is an interesting heteropolysaccharide containing an unusual sugar, 3,6-anhydro-L-galactose. It is widely used as a valuable material in various industrial and experimental applications due to its characteristic gelling and stabilizing properties. Agar-derived oligosaccharides or mono-sugars produced by various agarases have become a promising subject for research owing to their unique biological activities, including anti-obesity, anti-diabetic, immunomodulatory, anti-tumor, antioxidant, skin-whitening, skin-moisturizing, anti-fatigue, and anti-cariogenic activities. Agar is also considered as an alternative sustainable source of biomass for chemical feedstock and biofuel production to substitute for the fossil resource. In this review, we summarize various biochemically characterized agarases, which are useful for industrial applications, such as neoagarooligosaccharide or agarooligosaccharide production and saccharification of agar. Additionally, we succinctly discuss various recent studies that have been conducted to investigate the versatile biological activities of agar-derived saccharides and biofuel production from agar biomass. This review provides a basic framework for understanding the importance of agarases and agar-derived saccharides with broad applications in pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food, and bioenergy industries.

Recent development in the application of immobilized oxidative enzymes for bioremediation of hazardous micropollutants - A review

During the past several years, abundant progresses has been made in the development of immobilized oxidative enzymes with focus on finding new support materials, improving the immobilization methods and their applications. Nowadays, immobilized oxidative enzymes are broadly accepted as a green way to face the challenge of high amounts of micropollutants in nature. Among all oxidative enzymes, laccases and horseradish peroxidase were used frequently in recent years as they are general oxidative enzymes with ability to oxidize various types of compounds. Immobilized laccase or horseradish peroxidase are showed better stability, and reusability as well as easy separation from reaction mixture that make them more favorable and economic in compared to free enzymes. However, additional improvements are still essential such as: development of the new materials for immobilization with higher capacity, easy preparation, and cheaper price. Moreover, immobilization methods are still need improving to become more efficient and avoid enzyme wasting during immobilization and enzyme leakage through working cycles.

Improvements in the production of Aspergillus oryzae β-galactosidase crosslinked aggregates and their use in repeated-batch synthesis of lactulose

Aspergillus oryzae β-galactosidase was immobilized by aggregation and crosslinking, obtaining catalysts (CLAGs) well-endowed for lactulose synthesis. Type and concentration of the precipitating agent were determinants of immobilization yield, specific activity and thermal stability. CLAGs with specific activities of 64,007, 48,374 and 44,560 IU_H g^-1 were obtained using 50% v/v methanol, ethanol and propanol as precipitating agents respectively, with immobilization yields over 90%. Lactulose synthesis was conducted at 50 °C, pH 4.5, 50% w/w total sugars, 200 IU_H g^-1 of enzyme and fructose/lactose molar ratio of 8 in batch and repeated-batch operation. Lactulose yields were 0.19 g g^-1 and 0.24 g g^-1 for fructose to lactose molar ratios of 4 mol mol^-1 and 8 mol mol^-1 while selectivities were 3.3 mol mol^-1 and 6.6 mol mol^-1 respectively for CLAGs obtained by ethanol and propanol precipitation. Based on these results, both CLAGs were selected for the synthesis in repeated-batch mode. The cumulative mass of lactulose in repeated-batch was higher with CLAGs produced by ethanol and propanol precipitation than with the free enzyme. 86 and 93 repeated-batches could have been respectively performed with those CLAGs considering a catalyst replacement criterion of 50% of residual activity, as determined by simulation.

Naturally-derived biopolymers: Potential platforms for enzyme immobilization

Naturally-derived biopolymers such as alginate, chitosan, cellulose, agarose, guar gum/guaran, agar, carrageenan, gelatin, dextran, xanthan, and pectins, etc. have appealed significant attention over the past several years owing to their natural abundance and availability all over the years, around the globe. In addition, their versatile properties such as non-toxicity, biocompatibility, biodegradability, flexibility, renewability, and the availability of numerous reactive sites offer significant functionalities with multipurpose applications. At present, intensive research efforts have been focused on engineering enzymes using natural biopolymers as novel support/composite materials for diverse applications in biomedical, environmental, pharmaceutical, food and biofuel/energy sectors. Immobilization appears as a straightforward and promising approach to developing biocatalysts with improved catalytic properties as compared to their free counterparts. Biopolymers-assisted enzymes are more stable, robust, and recoverable than that of free forms, and can be employed for continuous biocatalytic reactions. The present review highlights the recent developments and use of biopolymers and their advanced composites as support carriers for the immobilization of a variety of different enzymes to develop biocatalysts with desired catalytic activity and stability characteristics for emerging applications.

Continuous enzymatic synthesis of lactulose in packed-bed reactor with immobilized Aspergillus oryzae β-galactosidase

Lactulose synthesis from fructose and lactose in continuous packed-bed reactor operation with glyoxyl-agarose immobilized Aspergillus oryzae β-galactosidase is reported for the first time. Alternative strategies to conventional batch synthesis have been scarcely explored for lactulose synthesis. The effect of flow rate, substrates ratio and biocatalyst-inert packing material mass ratio (M_B/M_IM) were studied on reactor performance. Increase in any of these variables produced an increase in lactulose yield (Y_Lu) being higher than obtained in batch synthesis at comparable conditions. Maximum Y_Lu of 0.6 g·g^-1 was obtained at 50 °C, pH 4.5, 50% w/w total sugars, 15 mL·min^-1, fructose/lactose molar ratio of 12 and M_B/M_IM of 1/8 g·g^-1; at such conditions yield of transgalactosylated oligosaccharides (Y_TOS) was 0.16 g·g^-1, selectivity (lactulose/TOS molar ratio) was 5.4 and lactose conversion (X_Lactose) was 28%. Reactor operation with recycle had no significant effect on yield, producing only some decrease in productivity.

Continuous production of aprepitant chiral intermediate by immobilized amidase in a packed bed bioreactor

To develop a highly efficient method for aprepitant chiral intermediate (S)-4-fluorophenylglycine, a continuous reaction system was established in packed bed bioreactor using amidase covalently immobilized on epoxy resin as biocatalyst. The epoxy resin was firstly modified by metal-chelate method and functional groups (Cu²⁺-IDA) generated were able to rapidly adsorb amidases, which were further covalently bound onto the modified resin with 90.1% immobilization yield and 80.2% activity recovery. The immobilized amidase exhibited excellent thermal stability with the longest half-life of 1456.8 h at 40 °C ever reported. (S)-4-fluorophenylglycine was continuously produced using the reaction system with 49.9% conversion, 99.9% ee, and an outstanding space-time yield of 5.29 kg L^-1 d^-1. Moreover, the efficient reaction system exhibited a high operational stability and retained 86.3% catalytic activity after 25-day continuous operation. This efficient continuous bioprocess presents great industrial potential for large-scale production of (S)-4-fluorophenylglycine.

Improvement of Trehalose Production by Immobilized Trehalose Synthase from Thermus thermophilus HB27

Trehalose is a non-reducing disaccharide with a wide range of applications in the fields of food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. In this study, trehalose synthase derived from Thermus thermophilus HB27 (TtTreS) was immobilized on silicalite-1-based material for trehalose production. The activity and the stability of TtTreS against pH and temperature were significantly improved by immobilization. Enzyme immobilization also led to a lower concentration of byproduct glucose, which reduces byproduct inhibition of TtTreS. The immobilized TtTreS still retained 81% of its initial trehalose yield after 22 cycles of enzymatic reactions. The immobilized TtTreS exhibited high operational stability and remarkable reusability, indicating that it is promising for industrial applications.

Enzymes and Dairy Products

The use of enzymes in food production, including dairy products, is below expected due the high costs associated with their production and purification. Microbial enzymes have great potential for industrial applications since they can be produced via large-scale fermentation and they are easily expressed by cloning in well-known cultivated microorganisms. The combination of different procedures such as over-expression techniques and the use of low costs induction sources has resulted in the production of enzymes to be used in high added-value dairy products. The addition of glucose oxidase to probiotic yogurts has been indicated as an alternative to the maintenance of probiotic functionality. Bile salt hydrolase contributes to prevention of hypercholesterolemia which is interesting to produce new functional dairy products. This chapter discusses enzyme sources and their relevance in dairy products, the production of enzymes using cloning and super-expression techniques, as well as enzymes related to functional dairy products.

New Heterofunctional Supports Based on Glutaraldehyde-Activation: A Tool for Enzyme Immobilization at Neutral pH

Immobilization is an exciting alternative to improve the stability of enzymatic processes. However, part of the applied covalent strategies for immobilization uses specific conditions, generally alkaline pH, where some enzymes are not stable. Here, a new generation of heterofunctional supports with application at neutral pH conditions was proposed. New supports were developed with different bifunctional groups (i.e., hydrophobic or carboxylic/metal) capable of adsorbing biocatalysts at different regions (hydrophobic or histidine richest place), together with a glutaraldehyde group that promotes an irreversible immobilization at neutral conditions. To verify these supports, a multi-protein model system (E. coli extract) and four enzymes (Candidarugosa lipase, metagenomic lipase, β-galactosidase and β-glucosidase) were used. The immobilization mechanism was tested and indicated that moderate ionic strength should be applied to avoid possible unspecific adsorption. The use of different supports allowed the immobilization of most of the proteins contained in a crude protein extract. In addition, different supports yielded catalysts of the tested enzymes with different catalytic properties. At neutral pH, the new supports were able to adsorb and covalently immobilize the four enzymes tested with different recovered activity values. Notably, the use of these supports proved to be an efficient alternative tool for enzyme immobilization at neutral pH.