Feruloyl esterase: A principal biodegradative enzyme

Abstract

Feruloyl esterases catalyse the hydrolysis of the substrate feruloyl-polysaccharide in order to yield ferulate and polysaccharide as the products. These enzymes play an important role in hydrolysis of the otherwise recalcitrant hemicellulose in the plant cell wall to its monomers. Feruloyl esterases find wide applications in agriculture, biofuel production, biotechnology, degradation, food, pharmacology, medicine and in paper production industries. Studies on isolation and characterization of eubacteria producing feruloyl esterases indicated their presence in sand dune and mangrove ecosystems of Goa. These bacteria were found to belong to genera such as Bacillus, Sporolactobacillus and Stomatococcus. Most of the isolates were found to grow on methyl ferulate (MFA), methyl sinapate (MSA), methyl caffeate (MCA), and methyl p-coumarate (MpCA). Interestingly, all the isolates showed growth and enzyme activity in the presence of metals tested such as copper, nickel, cobalt and zinc including dimethyl sulfoxide. These eubacteria, therefore, can be utilized in various industries in the development of value-added products for food and drugs.