Enzyme stability with essential oils and surfactants. Growing towards green disinfectant detergents

Abstract

This study investigates the stability of α-amylase and protease in disinfectant formulations incorporating essential oils (EOs), anionic surfactants (linear alkylbenzene sulfonate), non-ionic surfactants (alkylpolyglucosides and ethoxylated fatty alcohols), and mixtures of them, analysing the influence of the composition, temperature, and time using shelf-life assays. EOs reduce α-amylase activity showing first-order deactivation kinetics, and surfactants were found not to significantly affect its activity. However, protease activity increases with the presence of EOs, and it was also observed that the use of surfactants does not significantly affect protease activity either. This work represents a step forward in the development of environmentally friendly multifunctional detergents with high disinfectant and detersive capacity.