Determinants for an Efficient Enzymatic Catalysis in Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) Degradation

The enzymatic degradation of the recalcitrant poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) has been an important biotechnological goal. present review focuses on state art in PET, and challenges ahead. This covers (i) enzymes acting (ii) protein improvements through selection or engineering, (iii) strategies to improve biocatalyst–polymer interaction monomer yields. Finally, this discusses critical points PET degradation, their related experimental aspects, that include control physicochemical parameters. search for, engineering of, hydrolases, have widely studied achieve this, several examples are discussed here. Many enzymes, from various microbial sources, engineered, but recently true hydrolases (PETases), active at moderate temperatures, were reported. For a circular economy process, terephtalic acid (TPA) production is critical. Some thermophilic cutinases engineered PETases reported release terephthalic significant amounts. bottlenecks enzyme performance discussed, including activity, thermal stability, substrate accessibility, microstructures, high crystallinity, molecular mass, mass transfer, efficient conversion into reusable fragments.