Therapeutic proteases from plants: biopharmaceuticals with multiple applications

Human beings have used plants to treat diseases and adverse conditions since ancient times, and consequently, employed their proteases empirically.1 Nowadays, proteases represent a very significant group of industrial enzymes, accounting for 60% of the total enzyme market, especially the proteases from microorganisms due to ease of modifying their biochemical characteristics through genetic mutations.2 In addition, plant proteases are part of a growing class of therapeutic agents because many efforts have been made to exploit biodiversity.3 The Table 1 summarize some application of general proteases in different kinds of industry. 4–6