Enzymes in Industry

Production andApplications. 2nded. Edited by Wolf-gang Aehle. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim2004. 484 pp.,hardcoverE 149.00.—ISBN3-527-29592-5

Enzymes in Industry is an excellentintroduction into the field of appliedenzymology for the reader who is notfamiliar with the subject. Chapters 1 to4 offer a broad overview of the basicsof enzymes and enzyme activity,enzyme assays, production of enzymes,screening methods, and protein engi-neering, without going into great detailon any one of these topics. The readerlooking for detailed ready-to-use proto-cols will be disappointed. Those willingto consult the original literature candepend, however, on a very thoroughlist of original citations. The referencelist of the book contains more than twothousand entries!

Chapter 5 is the heart of the bookand introduces the reader to a widerange of topics in the field of food andnonfood enzyme applications. Each con-tribution is a story in itself, easy tounderstand and well-illustrated withclear and easy-to-read pictures, graphs,and tables. The extensive coverage ofthis field of applied enzymology will beof equal interest to life scientists, engi-neers, and those interested in marketingaspects. Chapter 5 does not cover allpossible themes. Missing are contribu-tions on the use of enzymes in agricul-ture, for example, in the preparation of

silage, in waste treatment, as probiotics,or as digestive aids.

The organic chemist interested inlearning how enzymes can be used inorganic synthesis will be pleased withthe concise introduction to this topic inChapter 6, which demonstrates the gen-eral principles by describing several con-crete examples taken from industrialpractice.

The second part of Chapter 6 dealswith the use of enzymes for therapeutic,diagnostic, and analytical purposes.Again the contributions cover a widerange of topics but in no great depth.The remainder of Chapter 6 deals withthe use of enzymes in genetic engineer-ing. The authors offer quite detailedinformation on the properties and useof these enzymes. This portion of thebook will probably be the least interest-ing to the reader. The topics coveredare already well-known to those familiarwith genetic engineering, and toodetailed for the chemist or marketingexpert looking for a general introduction.

The final chapter gives a short butinformative overview of regulatory andsafety aspects of enzymes, sufficient formaking the reader familiar with thebasic terminology and philosophy ofenzyme regulation in the USA andEurope.

Enzymes in Industry offers a broadoverview of the use of enzymes in indus-trial applications. It is up-to-date andremarkably easy to read, despite thefact that almost 50 different authors con-tributed. The book has been written tointroduce the reader to the many appli-cations of enzymes in industry. It wasnot conceived as a manual of ready-to-use recipes. But the reader will mostlikely find the original literature siteshe or she might need for more detailedwork, amongst the extensive and accu-rate list of references, with more than2000 entries. The scientist involved inenzyme work should have this book inhis or her library. But it will also be ofgreat value to the marketing expertinterested in the present use of enzymesand their future in food and nonfoodapplications.

Bryan CooperBASF AktiengesellschaftLudwigshafen (Germany)DOI: 10.1002/anie.200385162

Elemental Sulfur and Sulfur-RichCompounds, Vols. I and II

(Series: Topics inCurrent Chemistry,Vols. 230, 231.).Edited by Ralf Steu-del. Springer Verlag,Heidelberg 2003.Vol. I : 202 pp.,hardcoverE 139.95.—ISBN3-540-40191-1. Vol.II: 248 pp., hard-cover E 169.95.—ISBN 3-540-40378-7(Prices excludeVAT.)

The series “Topics in Current Chemis-try” presents critical reviews of the pres-ent and future trends in particular fieldsof chemical research. The SpringerVerlag has now published two furthervolumes of this long-standing series,dealing with the chemistry of elementalsulfur and sulfur-rich compounds. Theappropriate guest editor, Ralf Steudel,has worked for 40 years in basic researchon sulfur chemistry. He has invitednumerous colleagues to write reviewarticles for these two volumes, and hasalso contributed several of his own.Altogether 12 articles draw a compre-hensive picture of this field of research,ranging from the chemistry and physicsof elemental sulfur, through sulfur cati-ons and anions, to coordination com-pounds of main-group and transition-metal complexes. In addition, variouschapters provide surveys concerningthe chemistry of polysulfanes, sulfur-rich oxides, and biologically producedbiosulfur S0.

Due to the particular characteristicsof the book as a compilation of severalreview articles, the conceptual arrange-ment of the six chapters per volumeseems to be done in a rather randommanner. A short preface introduces thereader to the comprehensive chemistryof sulfur. The editor, Ralf Steudel, par-ticularly emphasizes that the contribu-tions cover the latest primary literature,and that a list of useful previous reviewsand monographs related to this chemis-try is available on-line as supplementarymaterial to these volumes. Although the

AngewandteChemieBooks

3629Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2004, 43, 3629 – 3630 www.angewandte.org 9 2004 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim