Invertase is an

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products ...

that catalyzes the

hydrolysis Hydrolysis (; ) is any chemical reaction in which a molecule of water breaks one or more chemical bonds. The term is used broadly for substitution, elimination, and solvation reactions in which water is the nucleophile. Biological hydrolysi ...

(breakdown) of

sucrose Sucrose, a disaccharide, is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar. It has the molecular formula . For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refine ...

(table sugar) into

fructose Fructose, or fruit sugar, is a ketonic simple sugar found in many plants, where it is often bonded to glucose to form the disaccharide sucrose. It is one of the three dietary monosaccharides, along with glucose and galactose, that are absorb ...

and

glucose Glucose is a simple sugar with the molecular formula . Glucose is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. Glucose is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, u ...

. Alternative names for invertase include , saccharase, glucosucrase, beta-h-fructosidase, beta-fructosidase, invertin, sucrase, maxinvert L 1000, fructosylinvertase, alkaline invertase, acid invertase, and the systematic name: beta-fructofuranosidase. The resulting mixture of fructose and glucose is called inverted sugar syrup. Related to invertases are sucrases. Invertases and sucrases hydrolyze sucrose to give the same mixture of glucose and fructose. Invertase is a glycoprotein that hydrolyses (cleaves) the non-reducing terminal beta-fructofuranoside residues. Thus, its systematic name is beta-fructofuranosidase. Invertases cleave the O-C(fructose) bond, whereas the sucrases cleave the O-C(glucose) bond. Invertase cleaves the alpha-1,2-glycosidic bond of sucrose. For industrial use, invertase is usually derived from

yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constit ...

. It is also synthesized by bees, which use it to make

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

from nectar. Optimal temperature at which the rate of reaction is at its greatest is 60 °C and an optimum pH of 4.5. Typically, sugar is inverted with

sulfuric acid Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid ( Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen and hydrogen, with the molecular fo ...

Production

Invertase is produced by various organisms like yeast, fungi, bacteria, higher plants, and animals. For example:

S. cerevisiae ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'' () (brewer's yeast or baker's yeast) is a species of yeast (single-celled fungus microorganisms). The species has been instrumental in winemaking, baking, and brewing since ancient times. It is believed to have been o ...

Saccharomyces carlsbergensis ''Saccharomyces pastorianus'' is a yeast used industrially for the production of lager beer, and was named in honour of Louis Pasteur by the German Max Reess in 1870. This yeast's complicated genome appears to be the result of hybridisatio ...

, S. pombe,

Aspergillus ' () is a genus consisting of several hundred mold species found in various climates worldwide. ''Aspergillus'' was first catalogued in 1729 by the Italian priest and biologist Pier Antonio Micheli. Viewing the fungi under a microscope, Mic ...

spps, Penicillium chrysogenum,

Azotobacter ''Azotobacter'' is a genus of usually motile, oval or spherical bacteria that form thick-walled cysts (and also has hard crust) and may produce large quantities of capsular slime. They are aerobic, free-living soil microbes that play an impo ...

spps,

Lactobacillus ''Lactobacillus'' is a genus of Gram-positive, aerotolerant anaerobes or microaerophilic, rod-shaped, non-spore-forming bacteria. Until 2020, the genus ''Lactobacillus'' comprised over 260 phylogenetically, ecologically, and metabolically div ...

spps,

Pseudomonas ''Pseudomonas'' is a genus of Gram-negative, Gammaproteobacteria, belonging to the family Pseudomonadaceae and containing 191 described species. The members of the genus demonstrate a great deal of metabolic diversity and consequently are able t ...

spps etc. For industrial use, invertase is usually derived from yeast.

Applications and examples

Invertase is used to produce inverted sugar syrup. Invertase is expensive, so it may be preferable to make fructose from glucose using

glucose isomerase In enzymology, a xylose isomerase () is an enzyme that catalyzes the interconversion of D-xylose and D-xylulose. This enzyme belongs to the family of isomerases, specifically those intramolecular oxidoreductases interconverting aldoses and ketose ...

, instead. Chocolate-covered cherries, other cordials, and fondant candies include invertase, which liquefies the sugar. Once the candy is manufactured, it needs at least a few days to a few weeks in storage so the invertase has time to break down the sucrose. Invertase enzyme is also used in ethanol production, cosmetics, drugs etc. and also in the food industry.

Inhibition

Urea Urea, also known as carbamide, is an organic compound with chemical formula . This amide has two amino groups (–) joined by a carbonyl functional group (–C(=O)–). It is thus the simplest amide of carbamic acid. Urea serves an important ...

acts as a non-competitive inhibitor of invertase, presumably by breaking the intramolecular

hydrogen bond In chemistry, a hydrogen bond (or H-bond) is a primarily electrostatic force of attraction between a hydrogen (H) atom which is covalently bound to a more electronegative "donor" atom or group (Dn), and another electronegative atom bearing a l ...

s contributing to the

tertiary structure Protein tertiary structure is the three dimensional shape of a protein. The tertiary structure will have a single polypeptide chain "backbone" with one or more protein secondary structures, the protein domains. Amino acid side chains may i ...

of the enzyme.

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Biology, border=no EC 3.2.1 Food additives E-number additives

Production

Applications and examples

Inhibition

See also

References

External links