Biocatalyst for wine industry entrapped on calcium hydrogels

MARÍA CAROLINA MARTÍN; OLIVIA V. LÓPEZ; MARIO D. NINAGO; VILMA A. MORATA; MARCELO A. VILLAR; MARÍA GABRIELA MERÍN; ANDRÉS E. CIOLINO

Simposio; XVI Latin-American Polymer Symposium (SLAP2018), XIV Iberioamerican Polymer Congress (CIP2018); 2018

Biotechnology, together with the development of new materials, has become an economic factor that generates significant annual income. Pectinases arewidely used biocatalysts in wine and juice clarification processes to reduce the turbidity of the final product. However, their industrial applications involve many problems related to recovery and reuses. The great advantage of the use of immobilized enzymes with respect to the use of free enzymes is their easyseparation and multiple reuses, transforming them into commercially and industrially feasible alternatives. Particularly, the entrapment of enzymes inside inert calcium alginate beads is a very effective technique due to its biocompatibility, low cost and resistance to microbial contamination.