Effectiveness of Bacillus sp. SMIA-2 Cellulases as an Additive in Detergent Formulations

Enzymes with greater thermostability and alkaline stability have become the main choice as detergent additives. In this article, the compatibility of cellulases recovered from a thermophilic Bacillus sp. SMIA-2 in the presence of the surfactants, oxidizing and bleaching agents was studied. In addition, the Central Composite Design (CCD) was adopted to determine the range of the best concentrations of a mixture of three components: Triton X-100, Renex 95, and Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) for preserving celulases activities. Finally, the impact of the cellulases in the presence of these three components to hydrolyze cellulosic fabrics was also evaluated. The results revealed that the celulases showed good compatibility with Triton X-100, Renex 95 and hydrogen peroxide to all concentrations tested (1.0, 4.0, and 8.0% w/v). In the presence of sodium perborate, the compatibility of cellulases decreased as the oxidant concentration increased from 1 to 8% (w/v). Although the cellulases were stable over a wide concentration range of Triton X-100, Renex 95, and Hydrogen peroxide, its performance to hydrolyze a cellulose fiber from the cotton fabrics was higher when any of the three components in the cleaning solution was used in lower concentrations, which is important considering the toxicity of these three components.