Enzyme discussion - DIY enzyme product

I've been interested in the use of enzymes for gardening. There have been so many new enzyme products come out this year it's hard to keep up with them all. My major beef with just buying one is the price (expensive!). My interest was sparked by their ability to break down dead roots which could be very useful to all of us who keep their mother plants bonzai'd and also reusing soil without having to remove dead roots. As I have been researching, it appears that enzymes are also use for digestive aids for humans. Healthy gardening and health food go hand in hand.

Here's some various info I've compiled and hopefully others can join in and share their experiences and knowledge. -

While all raw foods contain enzymes, the most powerful enzyme-rich food is sprouted seeds, grains, and legumes. Sprouting increases the enzyme content in these foods enormously. Barley is supposed to have the highest enzyme content because it has a super hard high protein seed coating. Enzymes are produced to help break away the seed coating as the seed germinates.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Barley & Barley malt -

http://www.maltproducts.com/news.whatismalt.html
http://brewingtechniques.com/bmg/schwarz.html

Malted barley dried at a sufficiently low temperature contains enzymes such as amylase and protease which convert starch into sugar. Therefore, sugars can be extracted from the barley's own starches simply by soaking the grain in water at a controlled temperature; this is mashing.

The historical preference for two-row barley is based on the fact that two-row barley yields malts with 1-2% greater theoretical extract, meaning that brewers can brew more beer.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

My local gardening store is really cool and we're always cracking open bottles and smelling them and trying to figure out how they are made. They cracked open a bottle of hygrozyme and I immediately though barley or beer when I smelled it (minus alcohol and hop smell). This is what I think hygrozyme is close to or could possibly be->

Diastatic Malt Extract

One syrup which is commonly used in the mash, however, is diastatic malt extract or DME. DME is prepared by fully converting base malt, then draining the resulting mash, still including amylases, and evaporating it down to a high density. DME is used exclusively in homebrewing as a substitute for base malt. It typically has a diastatic power of around 100 °Lintner.

I'm wondering if they are the same thing or close enough. I wonder what the lowest ppm DME out there is? Any beer brewers out there?

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Enzyme Types:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amylase
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protease
http://www.enzymestuff.com/basicswhichenzyme.htm

This is a list of human digestive enzymes which should be very similar if not exactly the same enzymes plants use. Some are animal derived but I'm trying to focus on plant derived sources.

Digestive enzymes are enzymes that break down food into usable material. The major different types of digestive enzymes are:

• amylase – breaks down carbohydrates, starches, and sugars which are prevalent in potatoes, fruits, vegetables, and many snack foods

• lactase – breaks down lactose (milk sugars)
• diastase – digests vegetable starch
• sucrase – digests complex sugars and starches
• maltase – digests disaccharides to monosaccharides (malt sugars)
• invertase – breaks down sucrose (table sugar)
• glucoamylase – breaks down starch to glucose
• alpha-glactosidase – facilitates digestion of beans, legumes, seeds,
roots, soy products, and underground stems

• protease – breaks down proteins found in meats, nuts, eggs, and cheese

• pepsin – breaks down proteins into peptides
• peptidase – breaks down small peptide proteins to amino acids
• trypsin – derived from animal pancreas, breaks down proteins
• alpha – chymotrypsin, an animal-derived enzyme, breaks down proteins
• bromelain – derived from pineapple, breaks down a broad spectrum of
proteins, has anti-inflammatory properties, effective over very wide pH
range
• papain – derived from raw papaya, broad range of substrates and pH,
works well breaking down small and large proteins

• lipase – breaks down fats found in most dairy products, nuts, oils, and meat

• cellulase – breaks down cellulose, plant fiber; not found in humans

• other stuff

• betaine HCL – increases the hydrochloric acid content of the upper
digestive system; activates the protein digesting enzyme pepsin in the
stomach (does not influence plant- or fungal-derived enzymes)
• CereCalase™ – a unique cellulase complex from National Enzyme
Company that maximizes fiber and cereal digestion and absorption of
essential minerals; an exclusive blend of synergistic phytase,
hemicellulase, and beta-glucanase
• endoprotease – cleaves peptide bonds from the interior of peptide chains
• exoprotease – cleaves off amino acids from the ends of peptide chains
• extract of ox bile – an animal-derived enzyme, stimulates the intestine to
move
• fructooligosaccharides (FOS) – helps support the growth of friendly
intestinal microbes, also inhibits the growth of harmful species
• L-glutamic acid – activates the protein digesting enzyme pepsin in the
stomach
• lysozyme – an animal-derived enzyme, and a component of every lung
cell; lysozyme is very important in the control of infections, attacks
invading bacterial and viruses
• papayotin – from papaya
• pancreatin – an animal-derived enzyme, breaks down protein and fats
• pancrelipase – an animal-derived enzyme, breaks down protein, fats, and
carbohydrates
• pectinase – breaks down the pectin in fruit
• phytase – digests phytic acid, allows minerals such as calcium, zinc,
copper, manganese, etc. to be more available by the body, but does not
break down any food proteins
• xylanase – breaks down xylan sugars, works well with grains such as corn


-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Herbs and health foods that contain enzymes:

Aloe Vera
Kombucha
Fennel
Fenugreek
Dandelion
Gentain
Barberry
Beets
Cayenne
Pineapple
Papaya *
Fermented Ginger

(*instructions already in OFC thread to make enzyme extract)


Hopefully we can all come up with a bomb enzyme DIY solution.


- sbz

nice addition to the forum . . . thank you!

I was wondering if enzymes like hygrozyme is safe to use every watering and throughout the entire flowering cycle?
Basically, is it possible to overdo even if you make sure u add no more than what is recommended on the bottle. The reason Im asking is because I use it as a ph down since my water's ph is always around 8.IMO its better to use hygrozyme then any type of acid like phosphoric acid for example

i started playing with enzymes this year and they have worked great. i have used cannazyme and sensizyme and they seem to do the same thing. i cant tell a difference with the final product at all... the only difference i can tell is the price. you get alot more cannazyme then sensezyme for your $...

Has anyone played with House and Gardens Muti-Enzymes? if its the same as all the other enzyme products this is the best priced in my area.

Does anyone know what type of enzymes are in any of the enzyme products?

theFLINTSTONERS - Always great to have y'all along. Its not as researched as your posts but it's a start on a topic I've never seen discussed online.

little-soldier: I've heard that all enzyme products are fine to use throughout the entire growing and flowing cycles. I'm assuming that hygrozyme is mostly comprised of amalyse and protease because they break down carbs and proteins (dead roots). I didn't know that hygrozyme was acidic... very good info! Thanks for sharing! This will help us try to reverse engineer it if possible.

ShaBud: I smelled a bottle of H&G Muti-Enzymes and it smells very sweet. I couldn't place what it was. By the dosages on the bottle, it is the most economical. One of them had a fermented smell that reminded me of kombucha or vinegar (sensizyme or cannazyme).

I hate to get off topic but advanced nutrient's new Nirvana (similar to Liquid Karma) smells absolutely crazy. I smelled some lavendar in there and other herbs that I couldn't make out.


- sbz

Great thread.
Here's hoping we finally find out what hygrozyme is made of.
Would be interesting to know what enzymes are produce by certain soil microorganisms.

Great post buddie,great info and an awesome contribution to our community!!

great thread scay beez, hope alls been well lately.

papain – derived from raw papaya, broad range of substrates and pH,
works well breaking down small and large proteins

Click to expand...

theres some text in the OFC im sure on extracting this from papaya. ive done it once but never used it on mj plants.

Can't really contribute a lot myself, this is all over my head. But hopefully information will come from this that I can make use of. Jay did inspire me to go search the OFC real quick and I came across this:

ThaiPhoon said:

In making bionutrients, the simple formula is to add 1/3 crude sugar or molasses and mixed with materials to be fermented and extracted. For example, let’s take papaya fruit fermented extract. We chop as thinly as possible ripe papaya, unwashed and unpeeled. We then add 1/3 crude sugar or molasses to the total weight or approximate volume of the papaya materials. Put the materials with at least 50-75% air gap and cover loosely with a lid and let it ferment for at least a week. After a week, you will notice some molds and microbial infections and will start smelling sweet, sour and alcoholic. The materials are then strained and liquid generated will be your pure fruit papaya extract. You can dilute this with 20 parts water. This diluted form can be used as bionutrient, using 2-4 tablespoons per gallon of water. Again, this extract can be added to animal drinking water and feeds, to compost pile or sprayed/watered to plants leaves and roots. This will be a good source of nutrient for plants or animals, and also for our beneficial indigenous microorganisms. Papaya extract is good source of enzyme pappain, beta-carotene and Vitamin C for example. So extract any plant material and just try to find out what kind of nutrients they have you can use for animal and plant nutrition. Should the materials you intend to use for extraction do not have much moisture (as compared to our papaya fruit example), you may add water enough to the level that will moisten all the materials.

Click to expand...

jaykush said:

great thread scay beez, hope alls been well lately.

Click to expand...

Hey JK! I've been working hard and always trying to improve.

Pimpslapped: Thanks for digging that post up in the OFC! All it takes is a tiny bit of effort from everyone and big things can happen fast!

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Here's a couple random things I found today:

Other enzymes include: bromelain (from pineapple), actinidin (from the kiwi fruit), and ficin (from the fig). These proteases may induce a prickly sensation in the mouth when consumed.

I was picking the brain of a chemist who owns a local beer brewing supply store and here's a few things I found out-> DME is definitely not the same as hygrozyme, and DME is basically maltase sugar which is the result of enzymes breaking the barley starch down. Brewers apparently don't have problems of breaking down the grains because barley has plenty enzymes. This means that there aren't any enzyme extracts marketed towards brewers. He also told me Bean-O is an over the counter product for gas build up and it is basically protease enzyme in pill form. It probably wouldn't be cost effective but interesting to know.

Wheatgrass which can be grown at home very inexpensively contains the following enzymes: Cytochrome oxidase, Lipase, Protease, Amylase, Catalase, Transhydrogenase, Superoxide dismutase (SOD). Wheatgrass berries also contain high amounts of enzymes which may rival barley grass.



- sbz

Rejuvelac

Rejuvelac

One of today's big finds -> Rejuvelac

http://www.hishealingways.com/rejuvelac/makerejuvelac.html

Dr. Ann Wigmore, in The Blending Book, states, "Rejuvelac is a slightly fermented wheatberry drink that is one of the most important items in the living foods lifestyle". She further states, "Rejuvelac plays a vital role in restoring health". Dr. Ann says, "Rejuvelac contains all the nutritional nourishment of wheat and is more easily digested. It contains the friendly bacteria that are necessary for a healthy colon and to remove toxins. It is also filled with B complex vitamins and vitamins C and E". In her book "Hippocrates Live Food Program" Dr. Ann quotes food chemist Harvey Lisle, who did extensive research on Rejuvelac's contents, "Rejuvelac is rich in proteins, carbohydrates, dextrines, phosphates, saccharins, lactobacilli, and aspergillis oryzae. Amylases are enzymes derived from aspergillis oryzae which have the faculty of breaking down large molecules of glucose, starch, and glycogens". Dr. Ann also states that Rejuvelac replaces water on the live foods program.

This stuff could help my allergies as well.

This brings in the possibility of hygrozyme being similar to this except using barley instead of wheatgrass berries. I might have to experiment and try sprouting some wheatgrass and barley.

Hygrozyme claims to be bacteria free and have a ppm of 0. Organics are hard to accurately measure ppm and ph because they are not as conductive as chemical salts and metals. It is possible that they froze or refrigerated the bacteria to preserve enzymes and keep it sterile. Hmmm.... getting closer.


- sbz

Its funny on the bottle it says its specially formulated so that it cannot be reverse engineered. It would be great to know what exactly happens as this stuff works. Ive used this for a bit with my organics i dont know if it helps but everythings green so im guessing so. Does this help break down organic nutrients as well? Im guessing it would.

peace

hey scay beez that Rejuvelac sounds like good stuff. i know from experience that the lactobacilli is good. i might just have to give this a try, would you use it in a tea or apply directly to the soil? it would probably help as a foliar spray as well.

floppyfundanglr said:

Its funny on the bottle it says its specially formulated so that it cannot be reverse engineered. It would be great to know what exactly happens as this stuff works. Ive used this for a bit with my organics i dont know if it helps but everythings green so im guessing so. Does this help break down organic nutrients as well? Im guessing it would.

Click to expand...

I'm hoping that they didn't not engineer their own RNA and insert into another enzyme to sort of synthetically produce it. Another thing that this chemist told me is that enzymes are basically a machine and whatever RNA is inserted, is the job it does. I know that's a super simplified explanation but I don't fully understand the subject yet. I'm not sure if OMRI allows this kind of thing or not. AMD and Cyrix reverse engineered Intel's processors for years. Microsoft also challenges hackers with every new release of windows and office since '98 and it's hacked within hours every time.

To actually answer your question -> Hygrozyme is manufactured by a medical company and it is also used to eat blood, dead human skin, and any other organic wastes in hospital rooms and also crime scene clean-up. Amylase and Protease are the two main enzymes which break down carbs and proteins. Plants roots shed similar to our skin and roots die due to many reasons: not watering evenly, drying out, overwatering, the plant being rootbound, and possibly for whatever unknown reason. Dead roots could be recycled into nutrients and more available room for potential roots. This could also make less root trimming for bonzai moms resulting in using less soil. Also with a good amount of enzymes, a few folks online have recycled their soil very rapidly without having to separate all the roots out. I think anything that is a carb or protein would be worked on by these enzymes.

jaykush said:

hey scay beez that Rejuvelac sounds like good stuff. i know from experience that the lactobacilli is good. i might just have to give this a try, would you use it in a tea or apply directly to the soil? it would probably help as a foliar spray as well.

Click to expand...

If you let it ferment and get carbonated, I'd add it in your pitcher or watering apparatus after the tea is done. Carbonation would be great for loosing soil up, IMO. I haven't formed an opinion yet on mixing AACT with fermented extracts. A too high concentration of alcohol would kill microbes. Fermented extracts collects the most possible nutrients because their is no nitrogen loss in the air (not sure how much N is lost in compost teas). Lactobacterii like your posts in the *OFC* is extremely important. I think those articles said a 50% mix is best.. that's huge. One of the main reasons cow and horse manure is one of the ultimate fertilizers.

If I ever get to farm outside, I will work towards 1 1/2 year - 2 year old anaerobic composts for my main compost, compost teas for microbe boost, and extracts for a boost/increasing flavor. It might be good to use this like a detox for plants once a week was my thinking. This is the direction where I think I want to take my gardening skills.

I drink a few kombuchas and eat a few soy yogurts every week. Lactobacterii will knock a sore throat out with the quickness. Just gargle either a kombucha or acidophilus mixed with water (PB8 is the most potent; tastes like rice powder; possibly in another reverse engineer thread ) and lean your head back when you swallow and let it run down the back of your throat.

***I know I've mentioned Organic Fanatic Collective (OFC) several times and I'll probably shout it out a few more times in this thread but, it is a sticky thread at the top of this thread that is a must read for organic heads. I just didn't want this info to get lost (like my other posts) because that thread is getting really long.***


- sbz

Very interesting topic, I'd love to be able to make my own enzymatic solution!

Here's a good link: http://www.microtack.com/html/enzyme3.html

This part caught my attention:

It should be noted that most of the agriculturally and industrial important enzymes, are those that catalyze the digestion or "hydrolysis" of certain large organic molecules like starch, cellulose, and protein. The enzymes actually attack these complex molecules, accelerating their digestion and yielding simpler substances. Since this process of digestion is referred to as hydrolysis, the enzymes that catalyze the process are considered to be "hydrolyzing enzymes" or "hydrolases".

The hydrolyzing enzymes include:

(1) Amylases, which catalyze the digestion of starch into small segments of multiple sugars and into individual soluble sugars.

(2) Proteases, (or proteinase), which split up proteins into their component amino acid building blocks.

(3) Lipase, which split up animal and vegetable fats and oils into their component part: glycerol and fatty acids.

(4) Cellulase (of various types) which breaks down the complex molecule of cellulose into more digestible components of single and multiple sugars.

(5) Beta-glucanase, (or gumase) which digest one type of vegetable gum into sugars and / or dextrins.

(6) Pectinase which digests pectin and similar carbohydrates of plant origin.

Click to expand...

Sorry about the last post, I was in a rush! I wanted to point out that even if there is a huge number of enzymes, not all are suited for our needs, that's why I focused on hydrolases.

Now while searching I found another great link but this one is a bit difficult to use for me, people with a more scientific experience could benefit more from it. On the left menu, click "Application and Engineering>Application". Then you can choose from several fields, such as "agriculture", "brewing" or "degradation".

http://www.brenda-enzymes.info/

Relik: Yeah!!! Very nice find! Now we know what kinds of enzymes to look for. That enzyme database is beyond me but that's a good thing.

I just got a big sample of a new enzyme product from Dynamic Balance. This stuff is real pricey ($200/bottle of powder). It seems like it will last a long time. I have to find out the dosage before I start messing with it. Here's the flyer for it:


Dynamic Balance

I. All natural beneficial enzyme

A. Not genetically engineered, no possibility of mutation
B. Easy application and mixing for liquid application
C. Over applications or burning impossible, excess microbes die off and are
recycled into carbon. Creating higher balanced Carbon to Nitrogen
ratios, which are critical to the survival and performance of all OTHER
beneficial bacteria and fungus.

II. Unlocks soil nutrients for immediate uptake

A. Breaks down all 96 trace element compounds to elemental form
B. With proper fertilization, brix readings 50% to 90% depending on crop
(carrots - 9.3% without, 18.1% with Dynamic Balance, cucumber -
6.9% without 12.3% with Dynamic Balance)
C. Increased root mass

III Stimulates plants immune system

A. Natural defenses of the plant are also greatly strengthened
B. Drastically reduces or eliminates need for pesticides and fungicides as
plant strengthens.
C. Eliminates transplant shock

IV. Can you afford not to use it?

A. Extra yield alone would justify cost.
B. Increased fertilizer efficiency results in less fertilizer used with less
runoff or seepage.
C. Decreases water usage by half, invaluable during drought conditions.

**For soil, 1 tsp per Gallon of water. Every 2-3 weeks.**

Ironically enough, I just meet a biochemist graduate and his sister works at a university in socal and I gave him a sample to run through a liquid chromatographic machine so we can reverse engineer. I'm working on getting hygrozyme and whatever other enzyme products I can get my hands on and doing the same with them. Yeah I'm cheating now...


- sbz

Yeah I'm cheating now...

Click to expand...

****ing cheat, I wanna know!

Nothing wrong with knowing what's inside IMO However this does not mean that we will be able to recreate something similar, maybe we will lack the material (extraction/purification etc) but hey at least we will know and maybe think about other ways to get around this.

Hygrozyme claim they cannot be reverse engineered... one more reason for us to try to do so!

I like to refer to it as cheating because I wanted to take a more organic/DIY approach but we'll approach it from a couple angles.

We could possibly make something better. We got quite a team between the online community and these biochemists with PHD's that work at a university in socal with lots of equipment. I just don't have direct communication with them yet, so it will take time.

Hygrozyme claim they cannot be reverse engineered... one more reason for us to try to do so!

Click to expand...

:

Somewhere in that enzyme page you linked me, I read that one way enzymes are manufactured are by drying them out into a powder. I was reading this page on fermented soybeans in thailand and some scientists were analyzing which bacteria broke them down fastest and created the most enzymes. They were extracting and culturing each strain of bacteria and feeding them something that either broke down into nutrients or could be separated from the enzymes. Here's the link to the fermented soybean page: http://scienceasia.org/2002.28.n3/v28_241_245.pdf. If you approach from google, you can view as HTML for those with slower computers (search soybean ferment).


- sbz