Urea degradation in some white wines by immobilized acid urease in a stirred bioreactor

Biocatalysis in the winemaking industry: Challenges and opportunities for immobilized enzymes

Enzymes are powerful catalysts already being used in a large number of industrial processes. Impressive advantages in enzyme catalysts improvement have occurred in recent years aiming to improve their performance under harsh operation conditions far away from those of their cellular habitat. Production levels of the winemaking industry have experienced a remarkable increase, and technological innovations have been introduced for increasing the efficiency at different process steps or for improving wine quality, which is a key issue in this industry. Enzymes, such as pectinases and proteases, have been traditionally used, and others, such as glycosidases, have been more recently introduced in the modern wine industry, and many dedicated studies refer to the improvement of enzyme performance under winemaking conditions. Within this framework, a thorough review on the role of enzymes in winemaking is presented, with special emphasis on the use of immobilized enzymes as a significant strategy for catalyst improvement within an industry in which enzymes play important roles that are to be reinforced paralleling innovation.

Urease covalently immobilized on cotton-derived nanocellulose-dialdehyde for urea detection and urea-based multicomponent synthesis of tetrahydro-pyrazolopyridines in water

The urease Schiff-base covalently bonded to the designed high-content nanocellulosedialdehyde (HANCD) prepared from cotton-derived nanocellulose (NC) via tandem acid-hydrolysis and periodate-oxidation reactions was termed HANCD@urease. No change in the aldehyde content of HANCD after Schiff-base bonding to urease and similarity in the relative enzyme activities for HANCD@urease and free enzyme supported that the preparation conditions for HANCD-loaded urease are mild enough to prevent denaturation of the enzyme. As the immobilized urease showed higher stability and reusability versus free enzyme, the HANCD@urease was efficiently used to determine the urea concentration in aqueous solutions and blood serum samples. Alternatively, the catalytic efficiency of the HANCD@urease was demonstrated for the production of ammonia from urea in the multicomponent synthesis of 3,5-dimethyl-4-aryl-1,4,7,8-tetrahydrodipyrazolo[3,4-b:4′,3′-e]pyridines (THPPs) in water. This new environment-friendly urea sensor showed 90% preservation of the enzyme activity after the six cycles of reuse in enzymatic reactions, while its catalytic activity in the reaction of benzaldehyde, hydrazine hydrate, and alkyl acetoacetate with urea instead of hygroscopic ammonium salts did not change significantly after the sixth run. Detection and production of ammonia by a bio-compatible sensor and catalyst under mild conditions are features of this new green protocol.

The urease Schiff-base covalently bonded to the designed high-content nanocellulosedialdehyde (HANCD) prepared from cotton-derived nanocellulose (NC) via tandem acid-hydrolysis and periodate-oxidation reactions was termed HANCD@urease.

Molecular Engineering of Bacillus paralicheniformis Acid Urease To Degrade Urea and Ethyl Carbamate in Model Chinese Rice Wine

Bacillus paralicheniformis urease (BpUrease) has been shown to be a promising biocatalyst for degrading the carcinogenic chemical ethyl carbamate (EC or urethane) in rice wine. However, low EC affinity and catalytic efficiency limit the practical application of BpUrease. In this study, we improved the EC degradation capability of BpUrease by site-saturation mutagenesis (SSM). The best variant L253P/L287N showed a 49% increase in EC affinity, 1027% increase in catalytic efficiency ( k_cat/ K_m), and 583% increase in half-life ( t_1/2) at 70 °C. Homology modeling analysis suggest that mutation of Leu253 to Pro increased the BpUrease EC specificity by affecting the interaction between Arg339 with the catalytic residue His323, while Leu287Asn mutation benefits EC specificity and affinity by changing the interaction networks among the residues in the catalytic pocket. Our results show that the L253P/L287N variant efficiently degraded urea and EC in a model rice wine, making it a good candidate for practical application in the food industry.

Assessing the Potential Content of Ethyl Carbamate in White, Red, and Rosé Wines as a Key Factor for Pursuing Urea Degradation by Purified Acid Urease

The ethyl carbamate (EC) content of a wine after a given temperature-time storage was theoretically predicted from the potential concentration of ethyl carbamate (PEC), as determined via an accelerated EC formation test. Such information was used to decide whether an enzymatic treatment was needed to reduce the wine urea level before bottling/aging. To this end, 6 white, red, and rosé wines, manufactured in Italy as such or enriched with urea, were tested for their PEC content either before or after enzymatic treatment using a purified acid urease preparation derived from Lactobacillus fermentum. The treatment was severely affected by the total phenolic content (TP) of the wine, the estimated pseudo-first-order kinetic rate constant for NH3 formation reducing by a factor of approximately 2000 as the TP increased from 0 to 1.64 g L(-1) . Such a sensitivity to TP was by far greater than that pertaining to a killed cell-based enzyme preparation used previously. Urea hydrolysis was successful at reducing EC concentration in wines with low levels of TP and other EC precursors.

High-level expression and characterization of recombinant acid urease for enzymatic degradation of urea in rice wine

Ethylcarbamate, a carcinogenic compound, is formed from urea and ethanol in rice wine, and enzymatic elimination of urea is always attractive. In the present work, we amplified the acid urease gene cluster ureABCEFGD from Lactobacillus reuteri CICC6124 and constructed robust Lactococcus lactis cell factories for the production of acid urease. The titer of the recombinant acid urease was increased from 1,550 to 11,560 U/L by optimization of the cultivation process. Meanwhile, the enzyme showed satisfied properties toward urea elimination in the rice wine model system. By incubating the enzyme (50 U/L) at 20 °C for 60 h, about 95.8% of urea in rice wine was removed. Interestingly, this acid urease also exhibited activity toward ethylcarbamate. The results demonstrated that this recombinant acid urease has great potential in the elimination of urea in rice wine.