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  • Explain a process in which a biocatalyst is used in the industrial preparation of a compound known to you.

Explain a process in which a biocatalyst is used in the industrial preparation of a compound known to you.

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Biocatalysts, as the name suggests, are the organic compounds that play the role of catalysts by reducing its activation energy and speeding up the process. These are a series of enzymes found in living organisms that catalyse their biochemical reactions. The most famous use of biocatalyst is in ethanol production from sugar solution (molasses):                   

When sugar solution is crystallised, the left-out solution or the mother liquor is termed as molasses which is the non-crystallised part. Its sugar concentration is 50%. It is kept for about 2-3 days after diluting it with 10% solution and yeast. Yeast has a role in providing enzymes invertase and zymase. The invertase gets broken down into sucrose to glucose and fructose after hydrolyses. Whereas the zymase gets helps in converting fructose and glucose to ethanol.      

The winemaking process is very different; the source of sugar and yeast are grapes, not molasses. With time the sugar content increases due to the ripening of the grapes. After crushing of grapes, fermentation take its toll and occurs under anaerobic conditions and releases CO_{2}.

When the concentration of alcohol reaches up to 14%, the fermentation stops. If in case there is the presence of air in the fermented mixture, ethanol gets oxidised to ethanoic acid, which degrades the taste and quality of the alcohol.

                                                                

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