An alkali stable cellulase by chemical modification using maleic anhydride

An alkali stable cellulase was obtained by chemical modification with 0.5 M maleic anhydride at 2–4°C and pH 8.0 for 25 min. The cellulase so modified showed a marginally better activity in alkaline range as compared to native cellulase. It had a half-life of 462.0, 433.13, 128.33 and 144.38 h vis-à-vis 13.08, 121.58, 126.0 and 187.30 for native unmodified enzyme at a pH of 8.0, 9.0, 10.0 and 11.0, respectively, at 50°C. These results could have promising applications in textiles and detergents.