Cleaning compositions for solid surfaces – auxiliary compositions – Cleaning compositions or processes of preparing – Enzyme component of specific activity or source
Reexamination Certificate
2001-04-05
2003-08-05
Kopec, Mark (Department: 1751)
Cleaning compositions for solid surfaces, auxiliary compositions
Cleaning compositions or processes of preparing
Enzyme component of specific activity or source
C510S276000, C510S320000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06602842
ABSTRACT:
This invention relates to the use of enzymes in cleaning applications, especially in household cleaning applications. For this purpose it is known to use, for example, proteases, lipases, amylases and cellulases.
However, these enzymes are incapable of removing all kinds of dirt, soil or stains present on or in textiles, on kitchenware, etc., as are synthetic detergents and other components of cleaning compositions known in the art.
For instance, stains of e.g. vegetable origin are not sufficiently removed by current detergents, if at all.
Usually detergents comprise a bleaching agent which, through oxidative reactions, decolourizes the stains, but does not remove them.
Moreover, these bleaching agents may cause damage to the object to be cleaned, especially when it has to be cleaned often.
Stains are usually defined as intensively coloured substances that colour a fabric even when they are present in very small amounts on fibres and resist removal by detergents alone (Cutler W G, Kissa E, 1987, Detergency, theory and technology, Chapter 1, p 1-90).
A common type of stain originates from vegetable materials including the associated pigments. Examples of such stains are grass, vegetables such as spinach, beetroot, carrot, tomatoes, fruits such as all types of cherries and berries, peach, apricot, mango, bananas and grapes as well as stains from drinks derived from plant material, such as wine, beer, fruit juices and additionally tomato sauce, jellies, etc.
Pigments in these vegetable materials are usually associated with the fibrous materials which are a major part of the plant cell walls, either via covalent bonds or via physical binding (“sticking”). Removal of these pigments can be very difficult, since detergents can barely remove the fibre-pigment mass from a surface to be cleaned. Recent research has shown that plant cell walls consist of a complicated network of fibrous materials. The composition of the cell walls varies considerably, depending on the source of the vegetable material. However, in general its composition can be summarized as mainly comprising non-starch polysaccharides. These polysaccharides can be found in various forms: cellulose, hemicellulose and pectins.
The composition of a plant cell wall is both complex and variable. Polysaccharides are mainly found in the form of long chains of cellulose (the main structural component of the plant cell wall), hemicellulose (comprising e.g. various &bgr;-xylan chains) and pectin. The occurrence, distribution and structural features of plant cell wall polysaccharides are determined by: 1. plant species; 2. variety; 3. tissue type; 4. growth conditions; and 5. ageing (Chesson (1987), Recent Advances in Animal Food Nutrition, Haresign on Cole, eds.). Butterworth, London, 71-89).
Basic differences exist between monocotyledons (e.g. cereals and grasses) and dicotyledons (e.g. clover, rapeseed and soybean) and between the seed and vegetative parts of the plant (Carre{acute over ( )} and Brillouet (1986), Science and Food Agric. 37, 341-351). Monocotyledons are characterized by the presence of an arabinoxylan complex as the major hemicellulose backbone. The main structure of hemicellulose in dicotyledons is a xyloglucan complex. Moreover, higher pectin concentrations are found in dicotyledons than in monocotyledons. Seeds are generally very high in pectic substances, but relatively low in cellulosic material. Three more or less interacting polysaccharide structures can be distinguished in the cell wall:
1. the middle lamella forms the exterior cell wall. It also serves as the point of attachment for the individual cells to one another within the plant tissue matrix. The middle lamella consists primarily of calcium salts of highly esterified pectins;
2. the primary wall is situated just inside the middle lamella. It is a well-organized structure of cellulose microfibrils embedded in an amorphous matrix of pectin, hemicellulose, phenolic esters and proteins;
3. the secondary wall is formed as the plant matures.
During the plant's growth and ageing phase, cellulose microfibrils, hemicellulose and lignin are deposited.
Until the present invention there was no detergent or other cleaning agent available capable of breaking down the complex fibrous structure or gel-like matrix of plant cell walls or components thereof, thereby releasing the pigment from the surface, object, or fabric to be cleaned.
The present invention not only seeks to solve the problem of removing stains of vegetable origin, but it also aims to help remove soil and dirt, which soil and dirt have, at least in part, a similar structure (e.g. stains of a food composition in which plant cell wall components are present as thickeners or gelating agents or the like).
The present invention can thus solve this problem by providing a cleaning composition comprising at least one plant cell wall degrading enzyme, or a substance having the same activity as such an enzyme, with the proviso that when only one type of such an enzyme is present, it is not a cellulase. Thus the invention does not contemplate the use of solely one or more cellulases alone, but employs other plant cell wall degrading enzymes (although cellulases can be included with such other enzymes if desired). Hence a first aspect of the invention relates to a cleaning composition comprising one or more substances that are capable of degrading plant cell walls, other than a composition comprising one or more cellulases as the only plant cell wall degrading substance(s).
This proviso is made because cellulases are known to be included in cleaning compositions. In current detergents intended for cleaning textiles cellulases are sometimes incorporated to improve softness, as an anti-pilling component, or for additional cleaning effects. Cellulases can, however, not be used in significant amounts, since many textile fibres comprise a high percentage of cellulose fibres, which of course are susceptible to breakdown by these enzymes. These enzymes by themselves are therefore not particularly suitable for the main purpose of the present invention, since they cannot be added in a sufficient amount to remove stains of vegetable origin without damaging the textile. They can, however, be used in combination with other enzymes which are capable of breaking down cell walls, in which case they can be added in lower amounts, because of the concerted action on the fibrous mass of such stains by the mixture of enzymes. Thus, the use of cell wall degrading enzymes can create optimal cleaning conditions, without damage to textile fibres, if the amount of cellulase(s) is reduced to less than 50%, preferably less than 25% and most preferably less than 10% of the total amount (w/w) of plant cell wall degrading enzymes added. In some embodiments there may be no cellulase(s) at all.
Cleaning compositions according to the invention thus comprise at least 50%, preferably at least 75% of a pectinase and/or a hemicellulase based on the total amount (w/w) of plant cell wall degrading enzymes. In some embodiments the composition may comprise 90% (w/w) or more of a pectinase or a hemicellulase as the plant cell wall degrading enzyme activity.
There is a high degree of interaction between cellulose, hemicellulose and pectin in the cell wall. The enzymatic degradation of these rather intensively cross-linked polysaccharide structures is not a simple process. A large number of enzymes are known to be involved in the degradation of plant cell walls. They can broadly be subdivided in cellulases, hemicellulases and pectinases (Ward and Young (1989), CRC Critical Rev. in Biotech. 8, 237-274).
Cellulose is the major polysaccharide component of plant cell walls. It consists of &bgr;1,4 linked glucose polymers.
Cellulose can be broken down by cellulases, also called cellulolytic enzymes. Cellulolytic enzymes have been divided traditionally into three classes:
endoglucanases,
exoglucanases or cellobiohydrolases and &bgr;-glucosidases
(Knowles, J., et al. (1987), TIBTECH 5, 255-261). Like all cell wall degrading enzymes they can be produced
Cuperus Roelck A.
Herweijer Margareta A.
Van Ooijen Albert J. J.
Van Schouwen Dick J.
Genencor International Inc.
Genencor International, Inc
Kopec Mark
Kumar Preeti
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