A good example of this is fruit juice production, where enzymes are added before the fruit is pressed to increase the yield of juice. This means that less fruit is needed – and there is less waste from the process too because a larger proportion of the fruit is turned into juice.

Enzymes are generally more efficient at using raw materials in processes than the chemicals that they replace. This is because enzymes have a very specific action and are not themselves used up in the processes that they catalyse.

Chemicals are indiscriminate and can have unwanted effects on the process, so there has to be constant compromise between efficiency and side effects. There is no need for this with enzymes: an enzyme added to turn starch into syrup will do exactly that and only that, with no impact at all on other reactions in the process.