ABSTRACT
Enzymes are biological catalysts that speed up the rate of a biological reaction. They are highly specic to the substrates they act upon and are effective even in small amounts. They operate at mild pH and temperature ranges and are susceptible to denaturation in harsh environments. As enzymes are highly substrate specic and catalyze reactions of only a particular nature, their use in industrial processes minimizes the formation of unwanted by-products; amylases break down complex carbohydrates such as starch into glucose molecules, whereas proteases cleave the peptide bonds in a polypeptide chain releasing individual amino acids. Owing to these specic properties, the two enzymes hold their individual signicance in different industries. All these attributes make enzymes a highly potential candidate for reaction catalysis (James et al., 1996).
