Enzymatic degradation performance of biopolymers: A systematic comparative review and meta-analysis of literature

The present study aimed at identifying the characteristic features of the enzymatic degradation of biopolymers using relevant literature studies as the source of experimental data. The investigation was based on clearly defined, systematic, reproducible, and transparent data search and analysis methodologies and comprised both a systematic literature review and a comprehensive meta-analysis of the compiled dataset. The data were explored using appropriate statistical techniques to elucidate the main drivers of enzymatic degradation of biopolymers and provide a quantitative assessment of their effects on the key response variables. Data revealed that the experimental conditions adopted mostly led to moderate mass loss (< 40% overall), while high conversion efficiencies represented relatively rare instances. This suggests that enzymatic degradation, under the conditions investigated to date, has not yet achieved optimal performance. The applied random forest model identified biopolymer chemistry and reaction environment (treatment duration and pH) as the primary factors of enzymatic degradation. When the analysis was restricted to an individual biopolymer, the relative importance of explanatory factors shifted, with enzyme type emerging as one of the most influential variables. This finding indicates that once substrate chemistry is kept constant, enzyme-substrate affinity and catalytic specificity become the main drivers of degradation.