Activity
Pectinase is a collective term that refers to a group of enzymes that degrade pectic substances in the cell wall of higher plants. Pectic substance is a polysaccharide composed of α-1,4-linked D-galacturonic acid. It can be divided broadly into two groups; one is pectic acid, which is a polymer of galacturonic acid, and the other is pectin, which is a polymer of galacturonic acid whose carboxyl groups are methyl-esterified.
Pectinases can be classified primarily into three groups.
1. Polygalacturonase, an enzyme that hydrolyzes pectic acid.
2. Pectin lyase, an enzyme that degrades pectic acid through elimination reaction.
3. Pectinesterase, an enzyme that cleaves the methyl ester bond in pectin.
Commercially available pectinase enzyme preparations are mixture of these enzymes. Normally, those preparations also contain cellulases.