Immobilised enzymes Flashcards
What can isolated enzymes used in industry do
become mixed in with the products of a reaction
Why are isolated enzymes complicated and expensive
the products need to be separated from the mixture
How do large scale industries avoid the expensive cost of isolated enzymes
They use immobilised enzymes
What’re immobilised enzymes
enzymes that’re attached to an insoluble material
What does it mean if the enzymes attached to an insoluble material
they cannot become mixed with other products
What’re the 3 main ways enzymes are immobilised
- Encapsulated in jelly like alginate beats
- trapped in a silica gel matrix
- Covalently bonded to cellulose or collagen fibres
What happens to the substrate solution in industry
for a reaction it’s run through a column of immobilised enzymes
Can active sites in enzymes still be activated when immobilised?
yeah they’re still available to catalyse
What’re advantages of using immobilised enzymes
- columns of enzymes can be washed and reused
- the product isn’t mixed with the enzymes
- immobilised enzymes are more stable than free enzymes
What’re disadvantages of immobilised enzymes
- extra equipment required
- expensive
- not economical for smaller scale production
- reduction of enzyme activity
Why is the enzyme activity decreased in immobilised enzymes
can’t freely mix with their substrate
What do immobilised enzymes convert lactose to
glucose to galactose
What are immobilised enzymes involved in the production of
Semi-synthetic penicillin’s
production of pure samples of L-Amino acids
Why is conversion of lactose to glucose important
people are unable to digest lactose cus they don’t produce enough of the enzyme lactase
What happens when fresh milk is passed over immobilised lactase
Produces lactose free milk
