The growing demand for sustainable industrial processes has catalyzed a paradigm shift toward green biochemistry and biocatalysis as pivotal tools for eco-friendly innovation. This review explores the integration of biocatalytic technologies driven by enzymes and whole-cell systems into industrial applications, emphasizing their role in minimizing environmental impact, reducing energy consumption, and replacing hazardous chemical reagents. Unlike traditional chemical synthesis, biocatalysis operates under mild conditions, exhibits high selectivity, and generates fewer by-products, aligning seamlessly with green chemistry principles. Recent advances in enzyme engineering, directed evolution, and computational protein design have significantly enhanced the stability, activity, and substrate scope of biocatalysts, enabling their application in pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, biofuels, and fine chemical synthesis. Furthermore, the utilization of renewable feedstocks in conjunction with immobilized enzymes or engineered microbial consortia exemplifies the potential for circular bioeconomy models. We highlight cutting-edge developments in cascade reactions, flow biocatalysis, and process intensification that improve efficiency and scalability. Challenges such as enzyme cost, process integration, and downstream processing are critically examined, alongside emerging strategies to overcome them through systems biology and synthetic biology approaches. The convergence of green biochemistry with digital tools like machine learning for enzyme discovery and process optimization is also discussed as a transformative frontier. This review underscores that sustainable biocatalysis is not merely an alternative but a necessity for future industrial innovation, offering a scientifically robust and environmentally responsible pathway toward decarbonized manufacturing.
Aslam et al. (Thu,) studied this question.