Decomposition of organic materials (e.g. starch, sugars, proteins, lignin, hemicelluloses, etc.) with specific enzymes or microbes in which the enzyme converts a high relative molecular mass compound into lower relative molecular mass species.
Example: Enzyme-catalysed hydrolytic degradation of
biomolecules.
Source:
PAC, 2018, 90, 1121. 'Terminology of bioanalytical methods (IUPAC Recommendations 2018)' on page 1129 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2016-1120)