Production of Inulinases: Recent Advances

Prabhjeet Singh* and Prabhjot Kaur Gill

Department of Biotechnology, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar 143005, Punjab, India

Article history:
Received November 22, 2005
Accepted March 11, 2006

Key words:
endoinulinase, exoinulinase, enzyme purification, thermostability

Summary:
Inulinases constitute an important class of enzymes for production of fructose and fructooligosaccharides, which are extensively used in pharmaceutical and food industry. The production of inulinases has been reported from various fungal, yeast and bacterial strains. The inulinases characterized until now show considerable variability with respect to biophysical and biochemical characteristics. High temperature optimum and thermostability are two important criteria which determine the suitability of these enzymes for industrial applications. Inulinases with high thermostability from strains of Aspergillus spp. and thermophilic bacteria have been reported. Molecular cloning of inulinase genes from different sources has revealed that beside conserved domains, the endo- and exo-acting inulinases show motifs which are distinct for the two classes of enzymes. The present article reviews some of the recent advances in the production and characterization of inulinases from different microbes and their possible applications.

*Corresponding author:           Prabhjeet_s@yahoo.com
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