*1.2.6 Applications of pectinase*

Pectinase is one of the very important enzymes in fruits and textiles industries as well as having different biotechnological application in various industries. Following are some important applications of pectinase in different aspects.

### *1.2.6.1 Fruit and vegetable juices industries*

Pectinase has been widely used in fruit and vegetable juices industries. These industries commercially produced different juices including sparkling clear juices, cloudy juices and unicellular product. In sparkling clear juices, pectinase is added to enhance the production juices by hydrolyzing pectin particles [48].

#### *1.2.6.2 Textile industry*

Pectinase with the combination of other enzymes such as amylase, lipase, cellulase and hemicellulose has been used to degrade sizing agents from cotton in textile industry. Uses of enzymes ensured the low discharge of waste chemical in environment and improved both the environmental safety and the value of product. Traditionally the scouring of cotton was done by using 3–6% aqueous sodium hydroxide and high energy. Bioscouring is a novel process of using enzymes to specifically remove the non-cellulosic impurities such as pectin, protein and fats from the fiber. In addition, energy conservation and environmentally friendly bioscouring process also limit the fiber damage [49].

### *1.2.6.3 Degumming of plants bast fibers*

Pectinase has been used in degumming process of plant fibers such as ramie, sunn hemp, jute, flax and hemp to remove the gum before subjecting them for textile making [31, 46, 50, 51]. The enzymatic degumming process using pectinase with combination of xylanase is environmentally friendly and economic and is excellent replacement of chemical degumming process, which is polluting, toxic and nonbiodegradable [46].

### *1.2.6.4 Retting of plant fibers*

In traditional retting process, mixed microbial cultures were used which produced pectinase that releases cellulosic fibers from fiber bundles. As compared to traditional retting, enzymatic retting is faster, controlled and produces fewer odors. Pectinase has been used to separate the fibers from jute and flax by eliminating pectin [49, 51].
