What is Tannase?
Tannase (tannin acyl hydrolase) is a versatile microbial enzyme that breaks down complex tannins into gallic acid and glucose. Primarily used in the food industry to clarify beer, wine, and fruit juices, it also improves tea quality, enhances antioxidant properties, and treats industrial effluents.
Everything You Need to Know
What is the use of tannase enzyme?
Tannases are biotechnological important enzyme distributed throughout the plant, animal and microbial kingdom. Tannase has received a great deal of attention from the discovery, and it is extensively used in food, animal feed, pharmaceutical, beverage, brewing, tannery and chemical industry.
What is tannin used for?
Tannins are natural plant polyphenols used primarily for tanning leather, dyeing textiles, and clarifying wine or beer. Due to their antioxidant and astringent properties, they are utilized in pharmaceutical products, cosmetics, and for improving animal nutrition. They also function as natural preservatives to increase food shelf-life.
Where is tannase found?
Tannase is an enzyme that is produced by several organisms such as plants, bacteria, fungi, and yeast. This enzyme is also found in plant sources such as tannin-rich vegetables, especially in the leaves, fruits, branches, and bark.
Can humans consume tannins?
Tannins are considered nutritionally undesirable because they precipitate proteins, inhibit digestive enzymes and affect the utilization of vitamins and minerals. Tannin components have also been implicated in the high levels of cheek and oesophageal cancers in certain regions of the world.
Main Details:
Functions and Applications:
Beverage Industry: Clarifies wine, beer, and fruit juices by reducing tannin precipitates.
Tea Production: Removes "tea cream" (turbidity) and prevents dark staining, while enhancing the quality of instant and iced teas.
Antioxidant Production: Hydrolyzes gallotannins into high-value gallic acid, used in pharmaceuticals (e.g., producing trimethoprim).
Food Processing & Feed: Improves the nutritional value of animal feed by reducing anti-nutritional tannins.
Bioremediation: Treats waste containing high tannin levels from industrial effluents.
Uses of Tannins:
Leather Industry (Tanning): The primary use is transforming animal hides into leather by binding with collagen proteins, making them waterproof and durable.
Food and Beverage Processing:
Clarification: Used to clarify beer, wine, and fruit juices.
Preservation: Applied to increase the shelf-life of food products.
Flavoring: Adds the characteristic astringent taste to red wine, tea, and chocolate.
Textiles and Dyeing: Tannins act as natural mordants (fixing agents) in dyeing fabrics.
Medicine and Health: Used as astringents in medicines to treat conditions like diarrhea, tonsillitis, and hemorrhoids, or to accelerate blood clotting. They are also studied for antioxidant and anticancer properties.
Industrial Applications:
Ink Manufacturing: Reacts with iron salts to create dark-colored ink.
Drilling Mud: Used to reduce the viscosity of mud in oil wells.
Boiler Water Treatment: Helps prevent scale formation.
Animal Nutrition: Used in animal diets for improved fermentability.
ANALYTICAL RESULTS
| Test Item | Method / Ref. | Specification | Result | Conclusion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Identification | In-house ID / label claim | Tannase (EC 3.1.1.20) | Conforms | Pass |
| Appearance | Visual | Off-white to light tan powder | Light tan powder | Pass |
| Enzyme Activity | Tannase activity assay / supplier method | NLT 5,000 U/g | 5,360 U/g | Pass |
| Activity Unit Definition | Supplier-defined unit | Report only | U/g reported | Pass |
| pH (1% solution) | pH meter | 3.5 – 6.0 | 4.6 | Pass |
| Loss on Drying | Gravimetric | ≤ 8.0% | 3.8% | Pass |
| Ash | Gravimetric | ≤ 8.0% | 5.1% | Pass |
| Lead (Pb) | ICP-MS / ICP-OES | ≤ 5.0 mg/kg | 0.22 mg/kg | Pass |
| Arsenic (As) | ICP-MS / ICP-OES | ≤ 3.0 mg/kg | 0.11 mg/kg | Pass |
| Cadmium (Cd) | ICP-MS / ICP-OES | ≤ 0.5 mg/kg | < 0.05 mg/kg | Pass |
| Mercury (Hg) | ICP-MS / ICP-OES | ≤ 0.5 mg/kg | < 0.01 mg/kg | Pass |
| Total Plate Count | Plate count | ≤ 50,000 CFU/g | 2.0 × 10³ CFU/g | Pass |
| Coliforms | Plate count | ≤ 30 CFU/g | < 10 CFU/g | Pass |
| E. coli | Absence test | Negative / 25 g | Not Detected | Pass |
| Salmonella | Absence test | Negative / 25 g | Not Detected | Pass |
Production Process
