Invertase
β-Fructofuranosidase is an enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis (breakdown) of the table sugar sucrose into fructose and glucose. Alternative names for β-fructofuranosidase EC 3.2.1.26 include invertase, saccharase, glucosucrase, β-fructosidase, invertin, fructosylinvertase, alkaline invertase, acid invertase, and the systematic name: β-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 β-fructofuranoside residues. Invertases cleave the O-C(fructose) bond, whereas the sucrases cleave the O-C(glucose) bond. Invertase cleaves the α-1,2-glycosidic bond of sucrose.
| Invertase | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Identifiers | |||||||||
| EC no. | 3.2.1.26 | ||||||||
| CAS no. | 9001-57-4 | ||||||||
| Databases | |||||||||
| IntEnz | IntEnz view | ||||||||
| BRENDA | BRENDA entry | ||||||||
| ExPASy | NiceZyme view | ||||||||
| KEGG | KEGG entry | ||||||||
| MetaCyc | metabolic pathway | ||||||||
| PRIAM | profile | ||||||||
| PDB structures | RCSB PDB PDBe PDBsum | ||||||||
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For industrial use, invertase is usually derived from yeast. It is also synthesized by bees, which use it to make honey 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.
Invertase is produced by various organisms like yeast, fungi, bacteria, higher plants, and animals. For example: Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Saccharomyces carlsbergensis, S. pombe, Aspergillus spp, Penicillium chrysogenum, Azotobacter spp, Lactobacillus spp, Pseudomonas spp etc.