Microbial proteases: Production and application in obtaining protein hydrolysates

The catalytic properties of the proteases have already allowed for their introduction into several industrial processes, such as food, chemical, pharmaceutical, etc. Recent advances in the biotechnology, particularly in the production of protein hydrolysates, have provided an important development of this area. The enzymatic hydrolysis allows for the use of different food protein sources that, after hydrolysis, can be used also as sources of bioactive peptides. Microbial proteases have interesting characteristics in the sense of low cost of production, good stability and specificity representing a powerful tool in the development and production of new protein hydrolysates with characteristics that can be explored industrially. This review aims to describe the production of proteases, the use of microbial proteases in enzymatic hydrolysis, in different industries and to explain the characteristics of such enzymes.