Understanding the effects of process parameters in the bioscouring of cotton and their interactions on pectate lyase activity by factorial design analysis

Abstract

Pectinases can be used to remove impurities and hydrophobic material from cotton fibers by the degradation of pectic substances. The biochemical characterization and the evaluation of process parameters that influence the enzyme’s activity are mandatory to optimize the industrial application. In the present study, a factorial experimental design was conducted to evaluate the activity of a commercial pectate lyase at different reaction conditions of temperature, pH, and nonionic surfactant concentration, aiming its application in bioscouring of textiles. The main effects of all three factors were found to be statistically significant. The second-order interactions between temperature and pH, and pH and surfactant concentration, were also important. Maximum activity on polygalacturonic acid was achieved at 60 °C, pH 9, and without surfactant. These results provided support for the subsequent bioscouring assays, resulting in a high level of cleanliness and good wettability of knitted cotton fabric at the lowest enzyme concentration (1 g/l), and could make textile processing more sustainable.

Keywords:

• Pectinase
• enzyme activity
• process optimization
• bioscouring
• cotton fabric

Acknowledgements

BLC acknowledges her grant to Programa de Bolsas Universitárias de Santa Catarina (UNIEDU), JABV is thankful to Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES, project 88887.310560/2018-00), JA appreciates his grant from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq, Grant 313458/2017-0), and DBDS would like to thank FAPESC and CAPES for his MSc. Scholarship (call 05/2019). Furthermore, the authors would like to thank Novozymes for the enzyme, as well as Graduate Program in Textile Engineering at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC – Blumenau), Laboratório Central de Microscopia Eletrônica (LCME) of the Federal University of Santa Catarina, and Chemistry Department of FURB – Universidade Regional de Blumenau for their support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.