Application of Enzymes in Laundry Detergents

The application of enzymes, however, is not novel already in 1913, Otto Rohm, founder of what would become the chemical giant Rohm and Haas, had added a proteolytic enzyme, mainly trypsin, from milled animal pancreas and dog waste to detergents. Marketed in Germany in 1914 as Burnus , this innovation was way ahead of its time and ran into several problems First, the very crude proteolytic enzyme contained many impurities which sometimes stained the very textile it was supposed to clean. Second, one tablet could be added to 10 liters of water to remove stains from clothes. Unfortunately, consumers were used to bulky washing powders which lathered a lot, and they did not believe that such a small tablet could work. Third, the process of enzyme extraction was not economical enough to include it in routine household detergents. 

Sodium tripolyphosphate (water softener, loosens dirt) 38.0 

Commercial product Company Enzyme Organism Function 

Lipolase Novozymes lipase Humicola, expr. in Aspergillus oryzae  

Maxatase Gist Brocades mainly subtilisin B. licheniformis 10-65 °C and pH 7-10.5 

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An important case is the application of enzymes in laundry detergents. Market trends in the United States show that consumers prefer liquids to powder detergents by a ratio of 2 to 1. These products are stored with no temperature control on shelves in the presence of harsh surfactants, such as linear alkylbenzyl sulfonate (LAS) and require extraordinary measures for stabilization. LAS, by its nature as an effective cleaning agent, causes surfactant-induced unfolding in proteins. There are countless examples of the development of stabilization systems in the intellectual property space. A common theme is to reduce the water activity and to use borate/glycol stabilizers that bind to the active site of proteases. 

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