Pectinases

Pectinases is the alternative term for polygalacturonases, the enzymes that hydrolyse the alpha-1,4 glycosidic bonds of polygalacturonic acid chains in pectic substances. In commercial usage the name often covers the whole family of pectin-degrading enzymes used in fruit processing, where they break down pulp to improve juice yield, aid pressing, and clarify the final product. Their action reduces viscosity and releases trapped juice, raising extraction efficiency significantly. Because they also drive fruit softening and cloud destabilisation, processors dose them carefully and inactivate them by heat when their job is done. Fungal pectinases dominate industrial supply, produced by fermentation and standardised for reliable performance in juice plants worldwide.