Role of Glutaraldehyde in Imparting Stability to Immobilized β-Galactosidase Systems

This review article highlights the role of glutaraldehyde as a matrix activator/stabilizer in imparting higher operational and thermal stability to beta-galactosidase (beta G) for biotechnological applications. Glutaraldehyde has been used extensively as a crosslinking agent as well as for functionalization of matrices to immobilize beta-galactosidase. Immobilized beta-galactosidase systems (I beta GS) obtained as a result of glutaraldehyde treatment has been employed to hydrolyze whey and milk lactose in batch reactors, continuous packed-bed and fluidized bed reactors under various operational conditions. Moreover, these I beta GS have also been utilized for the production of galactooligosaccharides in food, dairy and fermentation industries. It was observed that glutaraldehyde provided remarkable stability to immobilize beta G against various physical/chemical denaturants, thus enhancing thermal/operational stability and rendering it more suitable for repeated utilization in industrial scale operations.