Invited reviewProcess intensification: The future for enzymatic processes?

•PI is a very important tool for making the enzymatic processes industrially viable.•Scientific studies highlight the importance where higher yields and productivities can be achieved by PI.•PI can be obtained by using enzyme membrane reactors and contactors, enzyme cascades and sorption.

Application of enzymes as biocatalysts is highly favored due to their excellent substrate specificity and stereoselectivity as well as their effectiveness to work under mild conditions with low environmental burden. Enzymes are widely applied in the bioindustrial manufacture of bulk and fine chemicals which eventually find application in various areas e.g. food and feed products, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. However, enzymatic processes often suffer from substrate and/or product inhibition, unfavourable equilibria, unwanted product (bio)transformation, and a low stability of the enzyme. Research efforts have been directed towards addressing these drawbacks to a certain extent. This review provides an overview of literature citing examples that use different (membrane based) strategies to intensify enzymatic processes resulting in an increase in the product yield, process productivity, and/or stability of the enzyme. The strategies are described in detail under four major headings namely enzyme membrane reactors, membrane contactors, cascade reactions, and sorption. These are illustrated with cases for the production of peptides from proteins, oligo- and monosaccharides from different polysaccharides such as cellulose, lactose, pectin, chitosan, etc., esters and enantio-pure products from different substrates.