Abstract
The purpose of this systematic review was to identify the available literature of production, purification, and characterization of proteases by endophytic fungi. There are few complete studies that entirely exhibit the production, characterization, and purification of proteases from endophytic fungi. This study followed the PRISMA, and the search was conducted on five databases: PubMed, PMC, Science Direct, Scopus Articles, and Web of Science up until 18 May 2021, with no time or language restrictions. The methodology of the selected studies was evaluated using GRADE. Protease production, optimization, purification, and characterization were the main evaluated outcomes. Of the 5540 initially gathered studies, 15 met the inclusion criteria after a two-step selection process. Only two studies optimized the protease production using statistical design and two reported enzyme purification and characterization. The genus Penicillium and Aspergillus were the most cited among the eleven different genera of endophytic fungi evaluated in the selected articles. Six studies proved the ability of some endophytic fungi to produce fibrinolytic proteases, demonstrating that endophytic fungi can be exploited for the further production of agents used in thrombolytic therapy. However, further characterization and physicochemical studies are required to evaluate the real potential of endophytic fungi as sources of industrial enzymes.
Highlights
The use of chemicals worldwide in different industries has increased the demand for industrial enzymes, mainly due to the need for new sustainable industrial processes that do not affect people’s health
The genus Penicillium was the most cited among the eleven different genera of endophytic fungi evaluated in the selected articles, followed by Aspergillus, Alternaria, and Xylaria
It is known that the use of statistical methodologies is a better tool to optimize the growth conditions for enzyme production, only two used statistical methodologies to optimize the protease production
Summary
The use of chemicals worldwide in different industries has increased the demand for industrial enzymes, mainly due to the need for new sustainable industrial processes that do not affect people’s health. Proteases are enzymes whose catalytic function is to hydrolyze peptide bonds of proteins into amino acids and peptides. They are part of a large group of enzymes belonging to the class of hydrolase enzymes [4,5]. Proteases are used in several industries such as the pharmaceutical industry, the leather industry, the detergent, and food industries [6,7]. The use of proteolytic enzymes in the leather industry has been replacing chemical agents that are toxic and dangerous to the environment. The use of proteases in the detergent industry is responsible for approximately 20% of the market for commercial enzymes [3,8,9]
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