Role of Pectinases and Carbohydrate-Degrading Enzymes in Biosensing Applications
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64060/JESTT3i25Keywords:
Biosensing, Carbohydrate-Active Enzymes, Enzyme Engineering, Nanomaterials, PectinaseAbstract
Enzyme-based biosensors have emerged as powerful analytical platforms for transforming specific biochemical interactions into measurable signals, enabling rapid, sensitive, and selective monitoring across healthcare, food safety, environmental analysis, and industrial biotechnology. However, current enzyme biosensing research has predominantly focused on oxidoreductases, while carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) remain comparatively underexplored despite their exceptional substrate specificity and catalytic diversity. This review provides a comprehensive overview of carbohydrate-degrading enzyme-based biosensors, highlighting their fundamental mechanisms, sensing strategies, and future technological opportunities. Particular emphasis is placed on pectinases, including pectin methylesterase, polygalacturonase, and pectin lyase, which offer unique capabilities for detecting pectin degradation, plant physiological changes, food quality deterioration, and environmental processes. The catalytic principles of these enzymes, their production approaches, and their integration with electrochemical, optical, piezoelectric, and colourimetric transduction systems are systematically discussed. Furthermore, advanced immobilisation approaches involving nanomaterials, microfluidic architectures, and hybrid enzyme–nanozyme systems are examined to address challenges associated with enzyme instability, sensitivity, matrix interference, and reproducibility. Emerging concepts including artificial intelligence-assisted biosensing, wearable sensing platforms, multiplex detection, and sustainable biodegradable sensor designs are also explored as pathways toward next-generation intelligent biosensors. Despite significant progress, practical translation remains limited by substrate variability, large-scale manufacturing challenges, and insufficient standardisation. Future advances in enzyme engineering, smart data analysis, and integrated sensing technologies are expected to establish robust, portable, and environmentally sustainable biosensing platforms. This review provides critical insights into the development of advanced CAZyme-based biosensors and their potential role in shaping future intelligent analytical systems.
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