Top 5 Enzymes In The Textile Industry You Must Know About

Posted by Anand Mehta on December 18th, 2019

Enzymes are proteins that are found in the human body. However, enzymes can also be used as biological catalysts. Enzymes can convert any substrates into products and accelerate the speed of chemical reactions. They help in the environmental impact by reducing these reactions and it’s residue.

 There are many industries where enzymes are used, such as food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and many others. But among all, the most famous is the textile enzymes. Some of the enzyme application of the textile industry are:

Amylase

The use of proteins is increasing day by day in the textile industry and Amylase is a popular one among them. These are used in wet processing to improve the process by removing the starch-based material.

 Amylase slowly degrades the native starch to make an enzymatic breakdown, gelatinization, and swelling which are essential for carbohydrates. It can be found easily as there are many enzyme suppliers in the market with a variety of products. One of the advantages of it is that it can remove the starch without damaging the cotton fiber. 

Pectinase

Pectinase is another important enzyme that is used in the textile industry. Pectinase is used primarily for the degumming and retting of fiber. In the production of industrial enzymes, Pectinase is in the leading position.

 Pectinase makes the jute fiber softer by removing hemicelluloses and other non-fibrous materials without affecting the strength of the cellulosic fiber. By ingesting the inner layer of pectin in the cuticle cotton, it can destroy the cutinize structure.

Lipase

Lipase is also used mainly for degumming and retting of fiber along with pectinase. Other than that, lipase is also used in the stone washing of jeans. It is used in dry cleaning components to improve the solid fabric.

 It helps to remove toxic or hazardous pollutants. Lipase helps in giving a pure white appearance to fibers that keeps the natural pigment by cotton bleaching.

Cellulose

It is one of the critical textile enzymes that is frequently used and leading in the market. It digests the primary wall under the cuticle of cotton and destroys the cuticle structure. Cellulose earned industrial critical for using the same in the processing of cotton. It can improve their appearance by softening the fabrics. Cellulose helps in denim washing by loosening the indigo dye, which is also called “Bio-Stonewashing.” It replaced the pumice stones, which causes less damage to garment and machine.

 There are some other Protease enzymes that are also used for denim washing. It is slowly getting popular like the cellulase enzyme as it doesn't have the problem of “back-staining.” Laccase can also be used in the stone washing effect of denim as it an active agent.

 All of these enzymes can be easily acquired from enzyme suppliers, which is why it is a suitable replacement for toxic chemicals. Also, enzymes like amylase, lipase, catalase, cellulase, hemicellulase, protease, laccase, and pectinase are vital in the textile industry. Maintaining the fiber quality without the use of toxic chemicals gets really comfortable with the use of enzymes.