Cleaning compositions for solid surfaces – auxiliary compositions – Cleaning compositions or processes of preparing – Enzyme component of specific activity or source
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-04
2002-07-09
Douyon, Lorna M. (Department: 1751)
Cleaning compositions for solid surfaces, auxiliary compositions
Cleaning compositions or processes of preparing
Enzyme component of specific activity or source
C510S320000, C435S200000, C435S209000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06417152
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to laundry detergents which contain &bgr;-glucanase to improve their cleaning performance.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Enzymes, especially proteases, lipases and cellulases, but also amylases, are widely used in laundry detergents, washing aids and dishwashing detergents. Proteases, lipases or amylases are primarily used to remove protein, fatty and starch soils. By contrast, cellulases occupy a special position because they are not used to remove special soils, but instead have been known for some time as softening agents for cotton fabrics by virtue of their ability to degrade cellulose. A side effect of the degradation of cellulose fibrils by cellulases is the deepening of the optical color impression, the so-called color freshening effect, which is obtained in the treatment of colored cotton fabrics with cellulases when the undyed fibrils resulting from fiber damage from within the fibers are removed.
In connection with polysaccharide soils, there is the problem that naturally occurring polysaccharides, for example as present in foods, do not normally consist solely of starch, but also contain other saccharides or differently linked saccharides. Whereas &agr;-amylases intended for use in laundry detergents are generally very suitable for hydrolyzing the starch component of polysaccharide soils into water-soluble oligosaccharides, their soil removal capacity can be unsatisfactory when the soils in question are soils of other polysaccharides or when these other polysaccharides make up relatively large parts of the polysaccharide soils.
The problem addressed by the present invention was to remedy this situation and to provide a detergent which would have an improved cleaning performance with respect to polysaccharide soils.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention, which is intended to solve the problem stated above, relates to a detergent suitable for use in the washing of laundry which contains a &bgr;-glucanase in addition to typical ingredients compatible with this enzyme.
&bgr;-Glucanases in the context of the present invention are enzymes from the class of endo-1,3-1,4-&bgr;-D-glucan-4-glucanohydrolases (EC 3.2.1.73; lichenases). &bgr;-Glucanases in the context of the invention also include endo-1,3-&bgr;-D-glucosidases (EC 3.2.1.39; laminarinases). &bgr;-Glucanases cleave mixed glucans, which are linked alternately by 1,3- and 1,4-&bgr;-glucoside bonds, into oligosaccharides. Polymeric mixed glucans such as these are present in varying amounts in virtually all cereal products. Hitherto, enzymes capable of cleaving them have been used above all in the food, beverage and animal feed industry, in the textile industry and in the processing of starch (R. Borriss, “&bgr;-Glucan-spaltende Enzyme”, in H. Ruttloff: “Industrielle Enzyme”, Chapter 11.5, Behr's Verlag, Hamburg, 1994).
&bgr;-Glucanases suitable for use in accordance with the invention are obtainable from microorganisms, for example
Achromobacter lunatus, Athrobacter luteus, Aspergillus aculeatus, Aspergillus niger, Bacillus subtilis, Disporotrichum dimorphosporum, Humicola insolens, Penicillium emersonii, Penicillium funiculosum
or
Trichoderna reesei.
A commercial product is marketed, for example, under the name of Cereflo® (manufacturer: Novo Nordisk A/S). Preferred &bgr;-Glucanases include an enzyme obtainable from
Bacillus alkalophilus
(DSM 9956) which is the subject of German patent application DE 197 32 751.
&bgr;-Glucanase is preferably incorporated in compositions according to the invention in such quantities that they have glucanolytic activities of 0.05 U/g to 1 U/g and more particularly in the range from 0.06 U/g to 0.25 U/g. The determination of the glucanolytic activity is based on modifications of the process described by M. Lever in Anal. Biochem. 47 (1972), 273-279 and Anal Biochem. 81 (1977), 21-27. A 0.5% by weight solution of &bgr;-glucan (Sigma No. G6513) in 50 mM glycine buffer (pH 9.0) is used for this purpose. 250 &mgr;l of this solution are added to 250 &mgr;l of a solution containing the agent to be tested for glucanolytic activity and incubated for 30 minutes at 40° C. 1.5 ml of a 1% by weight solution of p-hydroxybenzoic acid hydrazide (PAHBAH) in 0.5 M NaOH, which contains 1 mM bismuth nitrate and 1 mM potassium sodium tartrate, are then added, after which the solution is heated for 10 minutes to 70° C. After cooling (2 minutes/0° C.), the absorption at 410 nm is determined against a blank value at room temperature (for example with a Uvikon® 930 photometer) using a glucose calibration curve. The blank value is a solution which is prepared in the same way as the measuring solution except that the glucan solution is added after the PAHBAH solution. 1 U corresponds to the quantity of enzyme which produces 1 &mgr;mole of glucose per minute under these conditions.
The present invention also relates to the use of &bgr;-glucanase for removing polysaccharide soils from textiles and to a process for removing polysaccharide soils from textiles by using &bgr;-glucanase. For the use according to the invention and for the process according to the invention, the &bgr;-glucanase may be applied to polysaccharide-soiled textiles either on its own or as part of a laundry pretreatment composition in the course of a pretreatment step preceding the washing process. However, the &bgr;-glucanase is preferably used as part of an aqueous cleaning solution which may additionally contain typical ingredients of wash liquors. Glucanolytic activities of 0.2 U/l to 4 U/l and, more particularly, 0.25 U/l to 1 U/l in the aqueous cleaning solution are preferred. In machine washing processes, for example in the routine washing of domestic laundry in washing machines, the glucanolytic activities mentioned do not have to be maintained over the entire washing cycle to achieve the required washing result providing it is guaranteed that a glucanolytic activity in the range mentioned prevails for at least a short time, for example for about 5 to 20 minutes.
&bgr;-Glucanase may be adsorbed onto supports and/or encapsulated in shell-forming substances to protect it against premature inactivation, particularly where it is used in particulate detergents as described, for example, in European patent EP 0 564 476 or in International patent applications WO 94/23005 for other enzymes.
In the course of the development work on which the present invention is based, it was surprisingly found that, if desired, amylase need not be used at all with no significant loss of cleaning performance against polysaccharide soils consisting at least partly of starch.
Since the washing performance of proteolytic and &bgr;-glucanolytic enzymes is unexpectedly increased when they are used in combination, a laundry detergent according to the invention preferably contains at least one protease in addition to &bgr;-glucanase. A detergent according to the invention is distinguished in particular by a proteolytic activity of about 100 PU/g to about 7500 PU/g and, more particularly, in the range from 500 PU/g to 5000 PU/g. The protease activity is determined by the standardized method described in the following (cf. Tenside 7 (1970), 125): a solution containing 12 g/l casein and 30 mM sodium tripolyphosphate in water with a hardness of 15°dH (containing 0.058% by weight CaCl
2
.2H
2
O, 0.028% by weight MgCl
2
.6H
2
O and 0.042% by weight NaHCO
3
) is heated to 70° C. and the pH is adjusted to 8.5 by addition of 0.1 N NaOH at 50° C. 200 ml of a solution of the agent to be tested for proteolytic activity in 2% by weight sodium tripolyphosphate buffer solution (pH 8.5) are added to 600 ml of the substrate solution. The reaction mixture is incubated for 15 minutes at 50° C. The reaction is then stopped by addition of 500 ml of TCA solution (0.44 M trichloroacetic acid and 0.22 M sodium acetate in 3% by volume acetic acid) and cooling (ice bath at 0° C., 15 minutes). The TCA-insoluble protein is removed by centrifuging and 900 ml of the supernatant are diluted with 30
Kottwitz Beatrix
Maurer Karl-Heinz
Douyon Lorna M.
Elhilo Eisa
Harper Stephen D.
Henkel Kommanditgesellshaft auf Aktien
Murphy Glenn E. J.
LandOfFree
Detergent containing glucanase does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Detergent containing glucanase, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Detergent containing glucanase will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2833029