Actinomycetes: A Source of Industrially Important Enzymes

Abstract

Microbial enzymes play a key role as metabolic catalysts, leading to their diverse applications and use in various industries. The constant search for novel microbial enzymes has led to improvisations in the industrial processes which is the key for profit growth. Actinomycetes form a significant group of microbial populations in soil, plant tissues and marine environments. Actinomycetes produce many valuable extracellular enzymes which can decompose a variety of organic materials. Enzymes produced by Actinomycetes and applied in different industries are cellulases, proteases, amylases, lipases xylanases, chitinases, cutinases and pectinases. Actinomycetes identified from the extreme environments are known to be producers of novel enzymes with great industrial potential. This review attempts to summarize the applications of enzymes from Actinomycetes in different industries such as food, medicine, pulp and paper, detergent, textile, agriculture and biorefineries.