Enzymatic reactions and biotransformations catalyzed by fungal enzymes and used in industry, agriculture, food technology, and medicine have increased in importance tremendously in recent years. Many efforts have been made to detect new sources of enzymes and to adapt these biological catalysts, for example, by methods of gene technology and protein engineering, to new applications for human or commercial benefit. This will be the subject of approximately half of this chapter. On the other hand, enzymatic activities of fungi can damage various products of human endeavor.

Fungi may use these products for their growth and development, degrading, destroying, or inactivating many substances and products in the process. This phenomenon is the cause of serious losses such as the destruction of food supplies and plant stocks, the ruination of wood structures, the damage of leather or textile goods, or the inactivation of food preservatives, biocides, and fungicides. These fungal activities and the enzymes involved will be covered in the second part of this chapter. https://www.scitechnol.com/biochemical-bioprocess-engineering-journal.php

Enzymes are remarkably effective catalysts, responsible for the thousands of coordinated chemical reactions involved in the biological processes of living systems. An outstanding feature of enzymes in comparison with chemical catalysts is substrate and reaction specificity that promotes only one reaction with the respective substrate and ensures the synthesis of a specific biomolecular product without the concomitant production of by-products.