Chapter 1 - Microbial Enzymes—An Overview

Abstract

People have exploited the biocatalytic potential of microorganisms for centuries to produce wine, vinegar, bread, and so forth without understanding their biochemical basis. Microbial enzymes are also used as biocatalysts in various industrial processes in an economical and environmentally-friendly way, as compared with chemical catalysis. Over the past few decades, the use of microbial enzymes in bioprocesses has increased rapidly, because of their catalytic activity, as well as stability. Worldwide, enzymes produced from microorganisms have been extensively investigated for isolation, purification, characterization, and applications. Microbial enzymes have diverse applications in the food, pharmaceutical, and biotechnological industries, and so forth. Commercially, many recombinant enzymes from bacteria and fungi are used in various bioprocesses. Modern techniques such as metagenomics and genomics can be used to discover new microbial enzymes, whose catalytic properties can be improved further using molecular techniques. Moreover, the screening of novel enzymes that are capable of catalyzing new reactions is constantly required. The discovery of new enzymes will provide clues for the design of new enzymatic processes. This chapter provides an overview of industrially important microbial enzymes; particularly their sources and applications.