Hemicellulase

Hemicellulase (CAS 9025-56-3) is an enzyme that breaks down hemicellulose, a structural polysaccharide found in plant cell walls, into fermentable sugars and simpler oligosaccharides. Sold under trade names including Gammanase, Pentopan, and Pulpzyme, it is used across food processing and manufacturing.

The enzyme is utilized in pulp and paper production and textile manufacturing to improve process efficiency and end-product quality. In baking, it improves dough handling and crumb structure by degrading arabinoxylan networks in wheat flour.

This process reduces water absorption variability across batches, ensuring consistent results. Pulp and paper producers use it as a biobleaching aid, where enzymatic hemicellulose removal before chemical bleaching reduces chlorine consumption.

This application also improves pulp brightness and overall sustainability. In textile and fiber processing, it supports retting and fiber separation, reducing reliance on harsh chemical pre-treatments during the manufacturing cycle.

Biotechnology applications include biomass pre-treatment for second-generation bioethanol production. Here, it acts alongside cellulases to maximize sugar yield from lignocellulosic feedstocks for more efficient energy conversion.

Hemicellulase is supplied as a liquid concentrate or dry powder, with activity expressed in units per gram or milliliter. Food-grade and technical-grade variants are both commercially available for industrial use.

The food-grade material conforms to FCC specifications to ensure safety and compliance. Specific activity levels and pH optima vary by microbial source, so buyers typically specify application conditions when sourcing.