European and American trends in the industrial application of immobilized biocatalysts

Industrial use of immobilized enzymes

“…Many methods for enzyme immobilization have been described in the patent and academic literature, although relatively few have been successfully commercialized on a large scale. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] The number of cited applications for immobilized enzymes is also substantial, but again only a limited number are deployed in the marketplace, many of which were developed decades ago. [4][5][6][7][8] To understand this apparent discrepancy, an understanding of the fundamental drivers for commercial acceptance of immobilized enzyme products is required.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] The number of cited applications for immobilized enzymes is also substantial, but again only a limited number are deployed in the marketplace, many of which were developed decades ago. [4][5][6][7][8] To understand this apparent discrepancy, an understanding of the fundamental drivers for commercial acceptance of immobilized enzyme products is required. In this critical review we highlight the development and attributes of several established and emerging industrial applications for immobilized enzymes, highlighting factors that enable commercial success.…”

Enzyme Technology

“…It can be assumed though that about 60 % of all 6-APA produced today is made by the immobilised catalyst route: this means that about 3000 tons of 6-APA are produced by 15 to 30 tons of immobilised penicillin acylase catalyst (Poulsen, 1981). Initially, cell suspensions of active strains could only be used once and the productivity was very low, about 0.5 to 1 kg of 6-APA per kg E. coli suspension.…”

Enzyme Immobilization for Organic Synthesis

“…Since the 1916 report by Nelson and Griffin [7], chemists have sought efficient methods for enzyme immobilization [8,9], which offers several potential improvements: It should also be noted that immobilizing enzymes also has some disadvantages for industrial applications: Enzyme Immobilization for Organic Synthesis Until recently, these drawbacks limited the broader application of immobilized enzymes on industrial scales. Nowadays, large-scale production processes (10 3 -10 7 tons per year) using immobilized enzymes are practiced with a small number of enzymes such as lipase [10][11][12], lactase [13], penicillin G acylase [14], aspartase [15], and glucose isomerase [16], among others. DiCosimo and coworkers have recently published an interesting review article on the industrial use of immobilized enzymes [5].…”