Question

What is the role of invertase and zymase in the manufacture of ethanol from molasses?

Answer 1

Industrial sector plays an important role in the manufacturing of important solvents, pharmaceuticals, dairy and food products etc. to be utilized by humans. Raw materials are processed for product formation under the influence of various parameters such as pH, temperature, viscosity and biocatalysts as. These Biocatalysts are the group of enzymes which enhance the rate of a chemical reaction by lowering down the activation energy. For example fermentation which is an anaerobic process that requires special class of Invertase and zymase enzymes for the production of Ethanol from sugar waste i.e. Molasses.

Complete answer:
Biocatalysts perform catalytic reactions for converting raw materials into desired products under the favorable conditions of pH and temperature in a Fermenter/bioreactor. Alcohol fermentation involves Embden –Meyer- Parnas (EMP) pathway described in 1940, also known as glycolysis for the production of ethanol from the Sugar waste, Molasses. These pathways begin with splitting of one Glucose molecule into two molecules of pyruvate, followed by breaking into Acetaldehyde which finally gets converted into ethanol and ${\text{C}}{{\text{O}}_2}$ by utilizing NAD and NADH molecules during the exothermic reaction. The conversion of Sucrose into Glucose and Fructose is carried out by Invertase enzyme while Zymase catalyzes the production of Ethanol and ${\text{C}}{{\text{O}}_2}$ from the Acetaldehydes during fermentation. Fermentation occurs through the culture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a specialized yeast cell which secretes two enzymes Invertase and Zymase for catalytic reactions in two steps-

$\begin{aligned} & \text{ Sugars }\xrightarrow{\text{INVERTASE ENGYME}}{{\text{C}}_{6}}{{\text{H}}_{12}}{{\text{O}}_{6}}\text{ + }{{\text{C}}_{6}}{{\text{H}}_{12}}{{\text{O}}_{6}} \\\ & \\\ \end{aligned}$

$\text{GLUCOSE }\xrightarrow{\text{ZYMASE ENGYME}}\text{ ETHANOL + C}{{\text{O}}_{2}}$

Note: Invertase and Zymase play key roles in the ethanol production, Naturally, these two enzymes invertase and Zymase are synthesized in yeast cells and for the production of ethanol at large scale yeast cells are used as a source of enzyme.