Properties and applications of α‐galactosidase in agricultural waste processing and secondary agricultural process industries

Abstract

Agriculture products form the foundation building blocks of our daily lives. Although claimed to be dependent renewable resources with low carbon footprint, the agricultural community is constantly challenged to overcome two post‐harvest bottlenecks: one, the farm bio‐waste, a substantial economic and environmental burden to the farming sector, and second, an inefficient agricultural processing sector, plagued by the requirement of significant energy input to generate the products. Both these sectors require extensive processing technologies that are energy demanding and expensive. To address these issues, an enzyme(s)‐based green chemistry is available to break down complex structures into bio‐degradable compounds that source alternate energy with valuable by‐products and co‐products. Alpha‐galactosidase is a widespread class of glycoside hydroxylase that hydrolyzes alpha‐galactosyl moieties in simple and complex oligo and polysaccharides, glycolipids, glycoproteins. Owing to its growing importance, in this review we discuss the source of the enzyme, production and purification systems, and enzyme properties. We also elaborate on the enzyme's scope in agricultural bio‐waste management, secondary agricultural industries like sugar refining, soymilk derivatives, food and confectionery, and animal feed processing. Insight into this vital enzyme will provide new avenues for less expensive green chemistry‐based secondary agricultural processing and agricultural sustainability.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.