Enzymatic production of cyclodextrins

Cyclodextrins (CD) are enzymatically modified starches with a wide range of applications in food, pharmaceutical and chemical industries, agriculture and environmental engineering. They are produced from starch via enzymatic conversion using cyclodextrin glycosyl transferases (CGTases) and partly α-amylases. Due to its low solubility in water, separation and purification of β-CD is relatively easy compared to α- and γ-CD. In recent years more economic processes for γ-CD and especially α-CD production have been developed using improved CGTases and downstream processing. New purification steps, e.g. affinity adsorption, may reduce the use of complexing agents. The implementation of thermostable CGTases can simplify the production process and increase the selectivity of the reaction. A tabular overview of α-CD production processes is presented.