PECTINASE or pectinolytic enzyme is a complex enzyme with different catalytic units including polygalacturonase, pectin esterase and pectin lyase to degrade pectin polymers into different end products. The PECTINASE with degrading capability of pectin can be utilized in various industrial applications, such as clarification of fruits and vegetable juices, degumming of plant bast fibers, textile industries for removing non-cellulosic impurities, papermaking industries, wine clarification, coffee and tea fermentation, wastewater treatment, as well as, it is also used for the isolation of protoplasm in plant science research. Pectin derived oligosaccharides (POS) produced by PECTINASE are considered as prebiotic molecules. However, the low operational stability in harsh industrial conditions confines the utilization of PECTINASE in industrial processes. Immobilization is the technique, which not only enhanced the stability of PECTINASE, but also, made the enzyme reusable for continuous industrial processes. The current review shares information about the PECTINASE and how the immobilization technology can enhance the industrial application of PECTINASE. Furthermore, various supports such as sodium alginate, agar-agar, polyacrylamide, aminated silica gel, nanocomposite microspheres, silica coated chitosan, nylon-6, porous glass etc. have been tested for the immobilization of PECTINASE through different methods, including entrapment, binding to a support and enzyme crosslinking.

PECTINASEs have multiple nature and various forms which are necessary for the hydrolysis of pectin in several conventional industrial and natural processes. In this investigation fourteen fungal strains which isolated from agricultural soils, were screened for PECTINASE activity. PECTINASE activity were measured in vitro by assaying released reducing sugar from pectin as sole carbon source.Aspergillus foetidusand Aspergillus aculeatus showed highest PECTINASE activity. Rhizoctonia solani (AG-4) and Trichoderma reesei S578 showed the highest level of protein production. Reducing sugars concentration were different between 13th and 15th then reduced to 29th days after inoculation. Secreted proteins increased to 11th and 13th then decreased to 29th days. Optimum pH and temprature for PECTINASE activity were 5 and 50oC respectively. Glucose was detected as a degradation product by thin layer chromatography (TLC). Electrophoresis of the extracellular proteins of A. foetidus and A. aculeatus revealed two major proteins having a molecular mass of 79 and 63 kDa respectively.

Two PECTINASE producing fungi species were isolated. Using a defined mineral medium and pectin as the carbon source, the capability of the species to produce pecinase was investigated in surface culture fermentation. The results showed that Aspergillus niger performs better than Thericoderma reesei in term of PECTINASE production, glucose has a repressive effect on PECTINASE production, and among nitrogen sources of ammonium sulfate, yeast extract, and sodium nitrate, ammonium sulfate is the best. The maximum exo-PECTINASE obtained in this research was about 1.7U/mL and the maximum endo-PECTINASE activity was about 0.015U/mL. PECTINASE production was very weak when pectin was substituted by sugar beet pulp probably due to inefficient contact between the microorganism and substrate particles in surface culture fermentation. Using sugar beet pulp in solid-state fermentation gave results comparable with those obtained in surface culture fermentation of pectin and in this research was investigated the feasibility of continuous surface culture fermentation for PECTINASEs production. The bioreactor was placed in an incubator at 35°C.

Background: The purpose of this research was to optimize the production of PECTINASE by solid substrate fermentation using lignocellulosic wastes (wheat straw, rice straw) and pectic substance such as citrus pulp (lemon, orange).Methods: Aspergillus niger PTCC 5010 was obtained from Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology (IROST). Taguchi design was employed for screening the most significant factors affecting the PECTINASE production by strain under study. The effect of addition of various solidstate substrates such as wheat straw, rice straw, orange pulp and lemon pulp, pulp ratio, carbon/ nitrogen (C/N) ratio, and pH was studied for optimal PECTINASE production. PECTINASE assay was done spectrophotometrically using galacturonic acid (GaiA) as the substrate.Results: In present study mixed of wheat and rice straws was utilized in combination with orange and lemon pulp with various percentages to product the enzyme with Aspergillus niger. The results showed that the highest PECTINASE activity was obtained using lemon pulp and orange pulp with maximum activity of 7819.15 U/mg. In addition the maximum PECTINASE production in the pulp of oranges and lemons was obtained at C/N ratio of 2 and 1%, respectively. Also the highest enzyme activity in orange pulp and lemon pulp was found at PH=6.Conclusion: The great amount of pulps daily produced during citrus juice processing makes their elimination difficult through a single system. Unprocessed pulps could be partially utilized as components of animal feed mixtures or source of human dietary fibers, whose world demand is increasing. Pulps could be alternatively utilized as carbon sources to grow microorganisms. Result indicated that increase for pulp as a solid substrate for the enzyme production was increased. This study showed that citrus pulp due to its high pectin is a potential source for increasing the production of PECTINASE.