Assessment of the Brazilian potential for the production of enzymes for biofuels from agroindustrial materials

Brazil is one of the largest bioethanol and biodiesel producers in the world. Its biodiversity and environmental characteristics create the opportunity to make Brazil a major producer of biotechnological products, such as enzymes for the bioenergy industry. This review gives a brief status of the production of amylases, cellulases, xylanases, and lipases and their application on the synthesis of bioethanol and biodiesel. The historical utilization of several agroindustrial by-products as feedstocks in such processes are presented, as well as the Brazilian market for these enzymes. Finally, an innovative and multidisciplinary approach based on geographic information systems is used in a case study for the estimation of the potential production of the biocatalysts in Brazil. Results indicate that the national production of concentrated preparations based on amylases, cellulases, lipases, and xylanases could reach 3.1 × 107, 3.2 × 107, 3.1 × 108, and 2.9 × 109 t, respectively. Therefore, Brazil presents a huge potential for the production of biocatalysts from renewable materials.