Alkaline protease has been exploited commercially for cleaning
purposes in detergent industries for decades. But its commercial
application in cleaning the process-equipments in food and dairy
industries is yet to be explored. Replacing conventional hightemperature
caustic-based CIP procedures enzyme-based CIP
approach would result in reduced chemical usage and energy
consumption. Additional potential advantages of enzyme-based
CIP include reduced handling of hazardous and corrosive cleaning
chemicals and a reduction in the thermal and chemical stress
exerted on process equipment during CIP (Pottchoff et al., 1997).
The commercial protease products reported to date to be of potential
use for CIP application in dairy processing were originally
developed for use in laundry detergents and other non-CIP applications.
These are mainly alkaline proteases derived from Bacillus
species. The commercial proteases previously found to be of wide
use for CIP application display maximum activity at pH 10e11.3
(Boyce et al., 2010) and pH 9e10 (Grasshoff, 2002).
In the present study, the efficiency of crude alkaline keratinolytic
protease isolated from Bacillus tequilensis hsTKB2 in removing milk fouling has been determined. Quantification and
application-relevant characterization of keratinolytic protease
activity were undertaken using substrates directly specific to the
proposed application. Enzyme cleaning performance was
assessed on a lab-scale by determining the ability of the enzymes
to remove a milk fouling deposit, representative of that
occurring in industry, from stainless steel panels. The effluent
was checked for its eco-friendly nature to aquatic systems. For
commercialization of enzymatic cleaning preparations, the
cleaning efficiency of the enzyme is to be evaluated in context
with real industrial sectors.