Cellulase deactivation in a stirred reactor

During the production or downstream processing of an enzyme it is always su bjected to shear stress, which may deactivate the enzyme. This susceptibili ty of enzymes to shear stress is a major concern as it leads to the loss of enzyme activity and is, therefore, a major consideration in the: design of the processes involving enzyme production and its application. In the pres ent work the cellulase enzyme was subjected to shear stress in a stirred re actor with an objective of investigating its deactivation under various con ditions such as different agitation speeds, concentrations of enzyme, conce ntrations of buffer, pH ranges, buffer systems and the presence of gas-liqu id interface. It was found that the extent of deactivation depends upon the conditions under which the enzyme was subjected to shear. (C) 2000 Elsevie r Science S.A. All rights reserved.