Editing of a special issue "Biocatalysis, a Life Companion for Green Chemistry: Biomolecular Aspects of Bioprocesses" in IJMS

In a historical perspective for food and drink production, biocatalysis has roots that are lost in the mists of time in Western Asiatic regions and probably in other parts of the ancient world; modern usage goes in accord with the knowledge of protein structure, enzymatic kinetics, and reactor design coming throughout chemistry, and biochemistry successes in the last century up to all insights in current molecular research. In modern literature, the asset of biocatalysis is of great value in a biobased economy for the valorization of easily accessible starting materials from renewables (agricultural residues, food wastes, marine residues, macro and microalgae, etc). The aim is to replace, in the near future, oil-based chemistry to obtain high-value products as well as functional molecules of biotechnological interest, low-cost production of biocatalysts, detoxification and nutritional enrichment in animal feed production or for other chemical conversions for energy and chemical production. As this represents the interface of green chemistry and industrial biotechnology, it embraces a range of industrial fields with many potential contributions from academic and industry scholars on the need doe environmental preservation and improvement of occupational health. However, although enzymatic catalysis at a laboratory scale can be efficiently optimized from the perspective of green chemistry, often limitations are present in terms of economic potential. The inherent multidisciplinary perspective of this journal represents the right place for the hosting of this Special Issue, with the multifaceted audience covering all modern aspects of molecular research. In this Special Issue, articles or reviews will discuss more recent successes in the investigations of biocatalytic processes used in green chemistry covering all fields of applications and fitting into most of the sections of this journal. All novel advances of biocatalytic approach used to reduce the environmental impact are welcome. Sources of enzymes, biochemistry basis, molecular mechanisms, bioreactors, biobased green pretreatments, enzymatic engineering and molecular biology tools, and study of all applicative aspects of biocatalysis will be acknowledged, including quantitative assessment of bioprocesses.