Textile Enzymes called "Aurum"
Enzymes
(Greek for "in the cell" formerly also called ferments) are
biologically the most important group of proteins. Enzymes are found in all
living organisms - in microbes, plants and animals and of course also in
human bodies; however, enzyme molecules are not living things themselves.
They are biocatalysts which enable metabolic processes in the cells. Enzymes
decrease the so-called activation energy for chemical reactions - the
minimum energy required to enable a reaction to take place at all. They may
speed up reactions by a factor of several millions. Generally, enzyme names
end in 'ase' to designate a compound being transformed in the reaction that
is catalyzed, e.g., xylanase, cellulase, pectinase.
Enzymes are highly specific and will only react with a small number,
sometimes only one, substance - ("substrate specificity"). A
living organism therefore needs up to 10,000 different enzymes to function
smoothly. More than 5 000 have been scientifically described. Enzymes
operate at mild conditions (temperature, pH, pressure) and without the need
of harsh chemicals, and because of their specificity without generating
harmful side-products. As natural proteins, enzymes are fully biodegradable.
Enzymes are coded by genes within living cells and they consist of chains of
20 different amino acids. For the biological activity, the amino acid chain
folds to form a complex, three-dimensional molecular structure.
