Evolution of World and Brazilian Markets for Enzymes Produced by Solid-state Fermentation: A Patent Analysis

BACKGROUND

The use of enzymes in various industrial processes has become increasingly frequent. When added to productive processes, it can accelerate reactions and generate a number of new products. The solid state fermentation (SSF), among other applications, has been employed also to obtain enzymes.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this prospection was to map registered patent documents about enzymes production by this type of fermentation in the world, identify the most obtained enzymes with patent documents and compilate information about the world and Brazilian enzyme markets.

METHODS

The experimental design was carried out by the keyword-driven scope through the advanced search in the Espacenet database European Patent Office (EPO). The keywords selected were solid-state fermentation and the International Patent Classification code, C12N9 (enzymes; proenzymes), for prospecting of interest.

RESULTS

In 2012, there was the higher number of registered patents (12). China holds 84% of deposited patents. Among the types of depositors, 54% of the selected patent documents were deposited by universities and institutes, and 44% by companies. 76.5% of the evaluated patents used fungi as enzyme producer. Analyzing the enzymes obtained in the registered patents, it is verified that the majority belongs to the group of carbohydrases with 43%, followed by proteases (25%), which are also the two classes of enzymes most commercialized in the market.

CONCLUSION

China holds the majority of the registered patents but North America gets the largest global enzyme market revenue followed by Europe and Pacific Asia. Carbohydrases were the most commercialized enzymes and with the highest number of patents registered. Among the carbohydrases, cellulases, xylanases and amylases are the most frequent in patent registration while being fungi produced.

Mango and acerola pulps as antioxidant additives in cassava starch bio-based film

The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility of incorporating mango and acerola pulps into a biodegradable matrix as a source of polyphenols, carotenoids, and other antioxidant compounds. We also sought to evaluate the efficacy of mango and acerola pulps as antioxidants in film-forming dispersions using a response surface methodology design experiment. The bio-based films were used to pack palm oil (maintained for 45 days of storage) under accelerated oxidation conditions (63% relative humidity and 30 °C) to simulate a storage experiment. The total carotenoid, total polyphenol, and vitamin C contents of films were evaluated, while the total carotenoid, peroxide index, conjugated diene, and hexanal content of the packaged product (palm oil) were also monitored. The same analysis also evaluated palm oil packed in films without antioxidant additives (C1), palm oil packed in low-density polyethylene films (C2), and palm oil with no package (C3) as a control. Although the film-forming procedure affected the antioxidant compounds, the results indicated that antioxidants were effective additives for protecting the packaged product. A lower peroxide index (36.12%), which was significantly different from that of the control (p<0.05), was detected in products packed in film formulations containing high concentration of additives. However, it was found that the high content of vitamin C in acerola pulp acted as a prooxidant agent, which suggests that the use of rich vitamin C pulps should be avoided as additives for films.