Ladan Mafakher
1 
, Yasin Ahmadi
2 , Javad Khalili Fard
3,4 , Sajjad Yazdansetad
5 , Sina Rezaei Gomari
6 , Babak Elyasi Far
7* 1 Thalassemia and Hemoglobinopathy Research Center, Health Research Institute, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
2 College of Sciences, Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Komar University of Sciences and Technology, 46001, Sulaimani, Iraq.
3 Razi Herbal Medicines Research Center, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran.
4 Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
5 Laboratory Sciences Research Center, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran.
6 School of Computing, Engineering and Digital Technologies, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, UK.
7 Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Dezful University of Medical Sciences, Dezful, Iran.
Abstract
Alpha-amylase is one of the most widely used enzymes in the starch industry. However, industrial application of soluble alpha-amylase is hampered by changes in pH and temperature (adverse effects on enzyme stability) and activity loss, leading to higher costs. Immobilization of alpha-amylase is an efficient strategy to reduce the enzyme losing and subsequently reduces costs in this regard. Alpha-amylases are immobilized by adsorption, entrapment, covalent attachment, and cross-linking. A barrier in alpha-amylase immobilization is the large size of its substrate, namely amylose and amylopectin. Most of these immobilization methods decrease the affinity of the enzyme for its substrate as well as the maximum rate of reaction (Vmax). This review aims to study different aspects of alpha-amylase including enzyme activity, applications, structure, starch, immobilization methods, and immobilization’s obstacles to improve alpha-amylase efficiency in the industry and also lowering the costs related to providing this enzyme.