Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Cost functions are typically exponential with regard to enzyme activity while price functions can be conservatively formulated as linear with regard to enzyme activity. These relationships are useful in both qualitatively and quantitatively estimating the desired activity the seller/manufacturer should strive for to maximize profitability. The profit is defined as the difference between price and cost of produced enzyme. In addition, the cost and price functions can be used to estimate the net worth of processing improvements. The proposed analysis is independent of the processing methodology as long as the exponent is constant. A cellulase example will be given to illustrate the analysis.