Detergent-compatible bacterial cellulases

Abstract

Cellulases, lipases, proteases, and amylases are employed in the detergent preparation to speed up the detergency process. Microbial cellulases are now commercially manufactured and are being used by various industries like detergent industry. Currently, the supplementation of detergent-compatible enzymes is a new trend followed by most of the detergent industries. The cellulases are supplemented to the detergents to improve the fabric smoothness and soil removal without damaging them. They act by passing through the textile interfibril spaces and thus the fabric quality is preserved. The process is environment friendly, and the use of cellulases and other detergent-compatible enzymes diminishes the utilization of toxic detergent constituents that are hazardous to humans. Alkaline cellulases active at ambient and low temperature are now preferred to maintain the fabric quality and use of low energy. The review reports on the production, purification, and properties studies of detergent-compatible proteases, amylases, and lipases are available. However, there is no report on detergent-compatible bacterial cellulases. In the present review, an overview on the production, purification, and characterization of detergent bacterial cellulases is presented. The stability and compatibility of the alkaline bacterial cellulases in the presence of the detergents and the detergent constituents are also discussed.

Keywords: alkaline cellulase; carboxymethyl cellulose; detergent compatibility; laundry detergent; surfactant.