IMMOBILIZATION OF ENZYMES ON PHENOL-FORMALDEHYDE RESINS.

Abstract

Enzymes attached to insoluble supports offer some particularly attractive advantages for many purposes including their use in the food processing industry. These advantages include repeated reuse of the enzyme, ease of removal from the reaction mixture, good or improved enzyme stability and properties which permit use in columns and large continuous reactors. This paper describes an investigation in which the use of phenol-formaldehyde resins as supports for immobilized enzymes has been studied. It has been possible to immobilize as much as 28 mg protein/g dry weight of such resins. The method has been successfully applied to several enzymes including a lactase. A pilot plant has been constructed and operated for the hydrolysis of lactose in acid wheys using this immobilized lactase.