Mannanase

• Derived from: plants
• Pronunciation: (\ˈma-ˌnan ays\)
• Type: Naturally-derived

What Is Mannanase?

Mannanase is a naturally occurring enzyme that breaks down polysaccharides made from mannose, which is a simple sugar. In many plants, mannanes in seeds are carbohydrate reserves.^[1]

What Does Mannanase Do in Our products?

Mannanase has many uses, including as an additive in animal feed, but it is also found in consumer products containing the gelling agent and thickener guar gum.^[2] Guar gum acts as an adhesive for particulate soils, making things stain. Mannanase breaks down the gum.^[3]

Why Puracy Uses Mannanase

We use mannanase because it makes things clean and is a good alternative to bleach. The FDA has deemed the ingredient generally recognized as safe (GRAS) for use.in food.^[6] Whole Foods has deemed the ingredient acceptable in its body care and cleaning product quality standards.^[7,8] Also, the European Chemicals Agency has deemed mannanase generally not sensitizing to the skin.^[9]

How Mannanase Is Made

Mannanase occurs throughout the natural world, but microbes are the primary tool through which it is made for commercial purposes. Producing microbial mannanases occurs mostly by submerging bacteria in a liquid that is continuously agitated, or via solid-state fermentation, which involves growing the microbes on a substrate. The microbes secrete the lipase, which is then purified, homogenized, and crystallized for sale.^[4,5]

Certifications

Sources

^[1] Samriti Dhawan & Jagdeep Kaur (2007) Microbial Mannanases: An Overview of Production and Applications, Critical Reviews in Biotechnology, 27:4, 197-216, DOI: 10.1080/07388550701775919
^[2] Wolfgang Aehle, ed. Enzymes in Industry: Production and Applications
^[3] DuPont Industrial Biosciences
^[4] American Biosystems
^[5] Chauhan, P. S., et al. , “Mannanases: microbial sources, production, properties and potential biotechnological applications.” Applied Microbiology Biotechnology 2012 Mar;93(5):1817-30
^[6] Food and Drug Administration
^[7] Whole Foods Market
^[8] Whole Foods Market
^[9] European Chemicals Agency