Alginate Particles for Enzyme Immobilization Using Spray Drying

Abstract

Enzymes are important catalysts for biological processes due to their high catalytic activity and selectivity. However, their low thermal stability limited their industrial applications. The present work demonstrates a simple and effective method for enzyme immobilization via spray drying. Alginate was used as a support material. Phytase, an important enzyme in the animal feed industry, was selected to study the effect of enzyme immobilization using alginate particles on its thermal stability. The physicochemical properties of alginate particles such as size, surface morphology, and heat resistance were studied. Successful immobilization of phytase was confirmed by confocal microscopy, and the immobilized phytase retained 58% of its original activity upon heating at 95 °C, compared to 4% when the alginate support material was absent. Phytase was released promptly in a simulated gastrointestinal tract with >95% of its original activity recovered. The spray drying method for phytase immobilization is scalable and applicable to other enzymes for various applications.

Multifunctional, Hybrid Materials Design via Spray‐Drying: Much more than Just Drying

“…For example, enhancing the storage and thermal stability of active enzymes is of utmost importance, and microencapsulation with appropriate support (e.g., alginate) [ 66 ] using spray‐drying has been demonstrated. In this case, enzymatic activity was slightly lowered after spray, but an enormous gain in stability was achieved.…”

“…Thus, stabilization strategies have to be developed. In this perspective, it was shown that enzymes can be protected when complexed with polyelectrolytes (e.g., poly(allylamine hydrochloride) [69] ), or with biopolymers (e.g., chitosan [66,124] ), and this allows preparing solid hybrid biocatalysts. Other stabilization methods, for example using reverse micelles, or crosslinked enzyme aggregates, could become handy in this perspective.…”

Boosting Enzyme Activity in Enzyme Metal–Organic Framework Composites

“…3 Immobilizing enzymes onto solid supports emerges as a solution, not only enhancing their stability but also enabling reusability for enzyme catalyst development. 4,5 However, the efficacy of enzymes is profoundly influenced by these supports, given the enzymes' sensitivity to their microenvironment and interactions with the support materials. 6 A variety of materials such as silica, graphene oxide, and polymers have been explored as potential supports for enzyme immobilization, targeting large-scale industrial applications.…”

Transforming Sand into Arable Substrate Using Biobased Microgels to Improve Land Productivity

“…Cross-linked alginate microgels (CLAMs) can be prepared by simultaneously spraying alginate solution with Ca 2+ . , Weng et al sprayed alginate solution with dispersed calcium salt using a two-fluid nozzle to encapsulate phytase enzyme, which produced microparticles with an average diameter of 4.93 ± 1.85 μm. However, the use of an insoluble calcium salt produced particles with rough surface and may result in nonhomogeneous cross-linking.…”