Common detergents consist of numerous chemical additives in order to remove cloth stains efficiently. However, the harshness of these chemicals also affects the texture of cloth. On the other hand, lipase is a natural and cost-effective enzyme that can substitute these chemicals. The latest research offers the production of this natural additive that works better without damaging the cloth.
Turning Agricultural Waste into Key Additive of Laundry Detergents
Researchers from the University of Portsmouth and Siksha O Anusandhan University carried out an experiment to create lipase. For this purpose, they used mustard oil cakes, which are the by-products of mustard oil. Moreover, scientists were successful in their experiment to create the best substitute for chemical additives. Reportedly, lipase is one of the highly in-demand industrial enzymes. This research is open for access in the journal Preparative Biochemistry & Biotechnology.
In this research, Dr. Pattanathu Rahman from the University of Portsmouth worked as the lead author. He stated, “We studied the lipase enzyme fittingness in detergent formulations. In this study, we were successful in producing Anoxybacillus sp. ARS-1 lipase. Moreover, this research highlighted the stability of the lipase we produced. In addition, the enzyme produced can resist nearly all chemical detergents and popular laundry detergent including Surf, Ezee, Ghadhi, and Ariel. Hence, this proves the suitability of the new lipase as a prospective additive for combination in the future detergent formulations.”
The latest research used mustard oil cakes as they are a very good resource for the development of microbes, which produce enzymes. Dr. Rahman along with professor Subudhi and other associates carried out fermentation of oil cakes for the lipase enzyme production. Lipase is the second major commercially produced enzyme worldwide. This research holds key significance due to the use of lipase in diverse industries such as chemicals, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and biodiesel.