Enzymes in Preparing Cyclodextrins

School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, 

Enzymatic process is the main method to produce cyclodextrins (CDs), and so far, chemical methods have been reported. CD is industrially produced from starch, glucogen, malto-oligosaccharides, and other dextrins through catalysis by cyclodextrin glucosyl transferase (CGTase). More and more researchers focus on the essential CGTase to prepare CD due to its wide applications in food, medicine, cosmetics, environmental protection, and analytical chemistry. 

By subjecting starch to Bacillus macerans, F. Schardinger obtained CD in 1903, and he found that this process was carried out in the presence of an enzyme, i.e., CGTase. In 1939, Tilem and Hudson confirmed this enzyme, and named CGTase (E.C.2.4.1.19) or cyclo-starch transferase. It was also named cyclic Bacillusmacerans 

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