Microbial production of raw starch digesting enzymes.

Raw starch digesting enzymes refer to enzymes that can act directly on raw starch granules below the gelatinization temperature of starch. With the view of energy-saving, a worldwide interest has been focused on raw starch digesting enzymes in recent years, especially since the oil crisis of 1973. Raw starch digesting enzymes are ubiquitous and produced by plants, animals and microorganisms. However, microbial sources are the most preferred one for large-scale production. During the past few years, the production of raw starch digesting enzymes by various microorganisms has been studied extensively. This paper reviews the recent development in the microbial production of raw starch digesting enzymes with a biotechnological perspective. This is the first review on microbial raw starch digesting enzymes till date.