Asian Journal of Microbiology, Biotechnology & Environmental Sciences Paper

XYLANASE: RECENT UPDATE ON COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION AND OPTIMIZATION OF FACTORS AFFECTING ITS YIELD A REVIEW)

S. PANDEY, REKHA AND H.S. CHAUDHARY

Abstract

In the present times, increasing demand for the microbial enzymes in different industries is making their production on commercial level very important. Cellulases, pectinases, lipases etc. are examples of commercially produced enzymes that contribute largely to the global economics. Xylanase is another industrially valuable enzyme that is used for the degradation of xylan. Xylan is the complex heterogenous polysaccharide belonging to the hemicellulosic component of lignocelluloses which are natural complex organic carbons present in the form of plant biomass. Xylan is the major constituent of the plant cell wall. Degradation of xylan by xylanase is a crucial step in several other industries like food, pulp, textile etc. For instance the xylan in the dough to be used for making bread makes it tight and results in crumbs formation while baking. Xylanase is also used for processing plant fibres such as hessian or linen in the textile industry. Therefore such industries require xylanase to be produced on vast commercial scale. The commercial production of xylanase involves a very basic and vital step known as the optimization of factors that affect its production. This step is essential for obtaining the maximum possible yield to achieve better quality product and economic advantage. There are two approaches for achieving the optimization, one is by using the conventional one factor at a time (OFAT) technique and the second one is by using statistical and computational biological tools such as those which work on the principle of Response Surface Methodology (RSM). Some recent works suggest that optimization of these parameters by using RSM is less time consuming, less labour intensive and economical along with being the better option to conventional method as it gives higher values of maximum possible yields of xylanase. This review article helps to understand the need for the large scale production of xylanase. The article, with the help of some recent works also helps to study and compare the two different approaches (OFAT and RSM) used for achieving the optimization of factors that affect the commercial production of xylanase.