The child who falls off his bike and grazes his knee. The dad putting up a shelf who hammers his thumb instead of the nail. The mum who suffers a paper cut. All these scenarios - plus a million others - can lead to blood getting onto clothes and other garments. And if they’re not washed immediately, the dried-on stains that result can become stubborn and difficult, if not impossible, to remove.

That was until the development of Liquanase, a new liquid protease from Novozymes that shows both excellent removal of aged blood stains as well as overall superior protein stain removal compared with other proteases on the market.

Product launch
This month, Novozymes is embarking on the launch of Liquanase in two key marketing regions: central and western Europe and Japan. The enzyme is a protease that has been formulated for addition to liquid laundry detergents.

According to Kirsten Væver Jokumsen, launch manager for Liquanase, liquid detergents are becoming ever more popular across the globe, but the opportunities for growth are greatest in Europe and Japan.

“In the USA the market is dominated by liquid detergents, which have about three quarters market share compared with a quarter for powders. In Europe the situation is reversed, while in Japan liquids are only just beginning to penetrate the market,” says Kirsten Væver Jokumsen.

Lifestyle important
The popularity of liquid detergents seems to be based on a range of factors. One of the most important is lifestyle; liquid detergents are less messy than powders, which have a tendency to get all over the washing machine and floor. And powders can also leave a residue if they fail to dissolve properly, which often occurs at cooler temperatures.

Liquids also give extra freedom to consumers who want to see exactly how much detergent they are using in a wash. This is more difficult with powders and, of course, impossible when tablets are used. This concern is increasing and reflects the fact that many European consumers have environmental concerns and want to minimise the impact of the wash on nature.
  
Emmanuel Petiot, regional marketing manager for central and western Europe, says that the perception of the performance of liquid detergents is another reason for their increasing popularity.

“The introduction of products such as prespotters, which are usually sprays or gels, has had a beneficial effect on customers’ perceptions of liquid detergents: they think they’re just as powerful as powders nowadays. As a result, the liquid detergent market share in central and western Europe is growing anywhere between 5 and 10% per annum,” says Emmanuel Petiot.

The product
Liquanase has a hard act to follow when it comes to proteases. Novozymes’ current portfolio of protein-digesting enzymes includes Alcalase,® which has a very strong track record and has been giving detergent manufacturers and formulators excellent results for many years.

Nevertheless, a range of tests comparing Liquanase with Alcalase has shown that the new protease gives better performance across a range of stains (Figures 1 and 2), thereby providing customers with a superior alternative.

"The addition of Liquanase® to a detergent would allow manufacturers and formulators to make some powerful consumer caims."

“The tests show that Liquanase is particularly strong on blood stains,” says Kirsten Væver Jokumsen. “But just like Alcalase, it also delivers an exceptionally high level of general cleaning, which is a basic requirement for any laundry detergent. The addition of Liquanase to a detergent would allow manufacturers and formulators to make some powerful consumer claims such as total removal of visible blood stains in one wash, efficient all-round protein stain removal, in-depth cleanness, efficient dirt removal, and increased whiteness,” she adds.

Natural versus technical stains
The performance of Liquanase is all the more creditable when one considers that the stains being tested are so-called ‘technical’ stains rather than ‘natural’ stains.

“Natural stains are fresh stains that are pretty easy to wash off and therefore often don’t reflect the reality of the laundry room. Technical stains, such as aged blood, are often much more difficult to remove. All testing on new proteases should be performed on technical stains because they reflect reality: after all, how many customers rush to their washing machine as soon as their clothes become dirty?” says Kirsten Væver Jokumsen.

“And another thing is that technical stains show less variability than natural stains and therefore the results are more reliable and valid,” she adds.

Figures 1 and 2. Liquanase® is consistently superior to or as effective as existing proteases on a broad set of protein stains in commercial EU liquid laundry detergents. (EU machine wash, 5 g/l, current protease dosage, 15ºdH/270 ppm, 40ºC.)

Figure 3. Remission differences between Liquanase® and Alcalase® in two EU detergents show that Liquanase is even more superior at lower temperatures. (EU machine wash, 5 g/l, current protease dosage, 15ºdH/270 ppm. Stains: aged blood, blood/milk/ink, mixed meat.)

Further benefits
Liquanase shows a number of benefits over other currently available proteases, including those relating to wash temperature, water hardness and soil load.

Wash temperature is becoming an ever more important issue with end customers who want to wash clothes in cooler water. This trend is being driven by environmental and cost concerns. After all, more than 80% of the energy consumption of a washing machine comes from heating up the water.

Novozymes tested Liquanase against Alcalase at wash temperatures of 30°C and 40°C. Bearing in mind that Alcalase is recognised as a good protease at low temperatures, the test was a challenging one. Nevertheless, the new protease was super­ior to Alcalase at a normal wash temperature of 40°C and performed even better at the very low temperature of 30°C (Fig. 3).

Robustness
Further tests comparing Liquanase with Alcalase have also shown that the new protease is superior when used across a range of water hardness levels and also when used with both normal and high soil loads.

“When you put all these things to­gether,” says Kirsten Væver Jokumsen, “namely the superiority shown by Liquanase in terms of temperature, water hardness variation and soil load, it builds into a picture of what we like to call ‘robustness’.

“This is very important to consumers because, in real life, washing conditions vary from day to day: temperature, dosage, soil load and regional water hardness can all differ, so customers need a detergent that contains a protease which is robust enough to address these challenges. And we believe that Liquanase is that protease,” she concludes.